Abstract
The possibility of distinguishing different soil moisture levels by electronic nose (e-nose) was studied. Ten arable soils of various types were investigated. The measurements were performed for air-dry (AD) soils stored for one year, then moistened to field water capacity and finally dried within a period of 180 days. The volatile fingerprints changed during the course of drying. At the end of the drying cycle, the fingerprints were similar to those of the initial AD soils. Principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis showed that e-nose results can be used to distinguish soil moisture. It was also shown that different soils can give different e-nose signals at the same moistures.
Highlights
Techniques of soil moisture estimation can be divided into direct and indirect ones
Of volatile fingerprints the studied soils are presented it was reduced the eight-dimensional data of space to ain two-dimensional data it was reduced the eight-dimensional data space to a two-dimensional data covariance area with the x-axis representing ~57% and the y-axis representing ~24% of the whole covariance area with themethod x-axis representing and the y-axis representing
The research described in this paper presents the possibility of an e-nose application to evaluate the moisture status of several soil types
Summary
Techniques of soil moisture estimation can be divided into direct and indirect ones. All of these methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Tensiometers, equipped with a porous ceramic membrane sensor, directly measure the soil water potential (pF) This equipment has some severe limitations as its sensor has to be installed permanently in the same place in the soil, while the equilibrium time may be very long, thereby preventing the recording of faster changes in soil moisture. A TDR meter uses rather long stainless steel wires as sensors, which are pushed into the soil [5,6] This may cause sensor damage or changes in its geometry, severely limiting the applicability of TDR meters in on-the-go measuring systems. From this point of view a challenging problem concerns the application of the e-nose for estimating the soil moisture level. The cheap e-nose device, which provides a rather fast response and requires no direct contact with the soil, may overcome most limitations of the above methods
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
