Development, calibration and testing of a low-cost small lysimeter for monitoring evaporation and transpiration

Abstract

Weighing lysimeters differ in shape and size and are well established in measuring soil water balance components, such as evaporation, transpiration and drainage. This study addresses the development, calibration and testing of low-cost small lysimeters for measuring evaporation and transpiration of barley in a glasshouse for three consecutive winter seasons (2011–2013). Forty-one small lysimeters were developed and used during the study. The lysimeters were made from plastic materials mounted on Tedea-Huntleigh model 1260 load cells. The temperature effect on the final mass reading from the load cells was corrected by deducing temperature correction factors for all the lysimeters. During calibration, the lysimeters had high linearity and no hysteresis. Sensitivities of the lysimeters ranged between 0.1 and 0.35 mm. The small lysimeters developed, installed and calibrated were able to measure evaporation and transpiration separately at high accuracy, sensitivity and precision. These lysimeters measured on hourly and daily bases, and were able to measure all the soil water balance components. Apart from the simplicity of these lysimeters, the water content of the whole soil profile could be easily monitored due to the deeper depth of the lysimeter. These small lysimeters were cheap to construct, and installation was easy compared to other lysimeters. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.