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Tensiometer Data Acquisition System for Hydrologic Studies Requiring High Temporal Resolution
Author(s) -
Nyhan John W.,
Dren Barry J.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1990.03615995005400010048x
Subject(s) - tensiometer (surface tension) , data acquisition , transducer , calibration , pressure sensor , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , remote sensing , geotechnical engineering , computer science , engineering , geology , surface tension , mathematics , mechanical engineering , electrical engineering , statistics , operating system , physics , quantum mechanics
Commercially available differential pressure transducers, tensiometers, and a data acquisition system were combined to evaluate soil water tension changes with time within two landfill cover designs used for the shallow land burial of waste materials. A typical error for the differential pressure transducers in the voltage‐pressure calibration curve was estimated to be 0.14 V at a transducer output of 4 V. Tensiometer data collected simultaneously using the data‐acquisition system and a hand‐held manual pressure‐transducer system agreed well ( r 2 = 0.994). The utility of the tensiometer data acquisition system to collect field data was demonstrated successfully using reference tensiometers with known hydraulic heads. Diurnal fluctuations in tensiometer data collected in the field are discussed relative to future experiments to be performed with the system. In addition, tensiometers with unknown and variable hydraulic heads were used to determine tensiometer response times of approximately 50 min.