Calibration of time domain reflectometry technique using undisturbed soil samples from humid tropical soils of volcanic origin

Abstract

Time domain reflectrometry (TDR) is used to measure the apparent dielectric number (Ka) in soils. We studied two soil types (Humitropept and Hapludand) of low bulk density (about 0.7 Mg m−3 at 0.05 m to 0.8 Mg m−3 at 0.3 m depth) and high organic matter content (about 7% at 0.05 m to 4% at 0.3 m depth). Soils are located in a humid tropical environment (average annual soil water content is 0.51 to 0.58 m3 m−3). For calibration, undisturbed soil blocks, with a TDR probe installed in the center, were saturated and then allowed to dry by evaporation. Volumetric water content was calculated from measured Ka values and from gravimetric measurements. Because we used undisturbed soil samples, our calibration accounts for the natural heterogeneity in soils. We tested the suitability of various calibration functions relating Ka to soil water content for our soils. TDR technique underestimated the actual soil water content by 0.05–0.15 m3m−3, when using the widely applied Topp calibration function. A three‐phase mixing model with a geometry parameter, α=0.47, fit our data best. We consider mixing models to be a robust approach for calibration of TDR technique on various soils.