화산회토양의 수분함량측정을 위한 Capacitance Soil Moisture Sensor의 Calibration

Abstract

Capacitance soil moisture sensor is extensively used by soil research and irrigation management with its convenience and accuracy. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of capacitance soil moisture sensor, named EnviroSCAN made by Sentek Ltd., in Jeju Island where volcanic ash soils are widely distributed, and to calibrate it to various soils with different amount of soil organic matter. For sensor calibration equation of volcanic ash soils, a logarithm function is better than a typical power function of non-volcanic ash soils. So there are possibilities of under evaluated in soil water contents in very wet and very dry conditions by using typical power function with volcanic ash soil areas. We suggested practical coefficients of typical calibration equation for using capacitance sensor in volcanic ash soils, also suggested equations for estimation of them with soil organic matter contents. The measurement of soil water content with a capacitance sensor can be affected by some soil characteristics such as porosity, soil organic matter content, EC, etc. So those factors should be controlled for improving the accuracy of measurement.