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Apparatus for Measuring Water Vapor Transport at the Soil Surface
Author(s) -
Saeed Ibrahim A. M.,
Tanner C. B.,
Sauer Thomas J.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1994.00021962008600010037x
Subject(s) - evapotranspiration , evaporation , water vapor , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , mass transfer , field (mathematics) , soil science , chemistry , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , geology , mathematics , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , chromatography , pure mathematics , biology
To fully characterize the water and energy balances of a field crop it is necessary to separate soil evaporation from total canopy evapotranspiration. An alternative to measuring soil evaporation directly is to measure the vapor exchange at the soil surface in order to assess mass transfer there. The objective of this research was to develop a method for measuring vapor exchange coefficients beneath plant canopies. The system consists of a Mariotte siphon water supply apparatus and a felt‐covered vapor source plate, both of which were tested under laboratory and field conditions. A detailed description of the devices, their construction and operation, and a sample data set are presented. The system is suitable for long‐term field installation and is capable of accurately measuring vapor transfer rates over short time intervals.