Application of Wenner Configuration to Estimate Soil Water Content in Pine Plantations on Sandy Land

Abstract

To estimate the mean value of surface soil water content rapidly, accurately, and nonintrusively, field investigations on soil electrical resistivity (SER) with the Yokogawa 324400 earth resistivity meter and the surface (0-150 cm) soil water content (SWC) with time domain reflectometry (TDR), together with the abiotic factors including soil texture, structure, and salinity concentrations were conducted in the Mongolian pine ( Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) plantations on a sandy land. The measurement of SER was based on the 4-probe Wenner configuration method. Relationships between the values of SWC and SER were obtained based on analysis of the abiotic factors of the research site, which play a key role in affecting the soil electrical resistivity. Results indicate that the SER meter could be used to estimate the mean value of SWC in the Mongolian pine plantations on the sandy land during the growing seasons. The bulky nature of the equipment simplified the cumbersome measurements of soil water content with the general methods. It must be noted that the Wenner configuration method could only provide the mean values of the SWC, and the soil texture, structure, temperature, and solute concentrations influenced the SER and further affected the estimation of the SWC by the SER meter. Therefore, the results of this study could be applied on a sandy land during the growing seasons only. However, the SWC of other soil types also may be obtained according to the individual soil types using the procedures of this study.