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In Situ Monitoring of Soil Bulk Density with a Thermo‐TDR Sensor
Author(s) -
Liu Xiaona,
Lu Sen,
Horton Robert,
Ren Tusheng
Publication year - 2014
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/sssaj2013.07.0278
Subject(s) - loam , reflectometry , soil science , environmental science , in situ , silt , gravimetric analysis , remote sensing , soil water , geology , time domain , meteorology , chemistry , computer science , geomorphology , geography , organic chemistry , computer vision
Monitoring spatial and temporal dynamics of soil bulk density (ρ b ) can be challenging, and ideally soil ρ b measurements should be continuous in situ. The thermo‐time domain reflectometry (TDR) technique is emerging as a useful technique for measuring soil ρ b , with the advantages of being automated, rapid, and minimally destructive. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the thermo‐TDR technique for monitoring the temporal dynamics of soil ρ b under field conditions. Thermo‐TDR sensors were installed at two experimental sites with different soil textures, silt loam and sandy loam, to monitor soil ρ b continuously in the 0‐ to 10‐ and 10‐ to 20‐cm soil layers. The results showed that the thermo‐TDR ρ b in general agreed with gravimetric ρ b from the core method, and the differences between the two methods were within 8%. Compared with the core method, the thermo‐TDR technique had the advantage of capturing the in situ ρ b changes over time with minimal soil disturbance. We conclude that the thermo‐TDR sensors can be used effectively to continuously monitor soil ρ b under field conditions.