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A heavy‐duty time domain reflectometry soil moisture probe for use in intensive field sampling
Author(s) -
Long Dan S.,
Wraith Jon M.,
Kegel Greg
Publication year - 2002
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/sssaj2002.3960
Subject(s) - coring , reflectometry , environmental science , sampling (signal processing) , water content , soil science , soil water , adapter (computing) , time domain , remote sensing , computer science , geology , geotechnical engineering , engineering , detector , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , drilling , computer vision , operating system
Mapping soil water content for site‐specific management of farm fields is commonly achieved through grid soil sampling. This effort frequently requires intensive soil coring, which is destructive and time consuming. Precision farming and research can be facilitated if sampling techniques are improved and made cost effective. We designed and constructed a heavy‐duty time domain reflectometry (TDR) probe of simple design that fits a hydraulic soil sampling machine. The design is simple enough to be adapted to the TDR equipment and hydraulic sampler that a researcher or practitioner may already possess. The probe consists of a housing and adapter that can be fabricated in a local machine shop from materials that are easily obtainable. Probe schematics and summary soil water maps obtained using the new design are presented. As with conventional TDR probe designs, stony or indurate soils may present particular problems in effective insertion of the probe.