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Noninvasive Time Domain Reflectometry Moisture Measurement Probe
Author(s) -
Selker John S.,
Graff Lynette,
Steenhuis Tammo
Publication year - 1993
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/sssaj1993.03615995005700040009x
Subject(s) - reflectometry , water content , moisture , soil water , penetration (warfare) , penetration depth , materials science , time domain , dielectric , soil science , environmental science , remote sensing , geology , geotechnical engineering , composite material , optics , computer science , optoelectronics , engineering , physics , operations research , computer vision
Time domain reflectometry (TDR) has been shown to be a widely applicable method for determination of moisture content in soils and other geological and engineering materials. All TDR probes used to date have required penetration of the sample under study, which severely limits the utility of the method. We demonstrated that, by simply placing the probe wires against the surface of a sample and recalibrating the dielectric vs. moisture content response, the TDR method may be used to obtain moisture content without sample penetration. This expands the range of applicability of the TDR technique to such critical areas as hard rock drill cores and pavement measurements, as well as endurated soils. An example of such a noninvasive probe is shown to have the accuracy of previous probe designs (i.e., ± 2% m 3 m −3 moisture content), without requiring penetration of the sample, with additional advantages including the ability to miniaturize the probe.