The effect of soil electrical conductivity on moisture determination using time-domain reflectometry in sandy soil

Abstract

A series of laboratory experiments was conducted, in order to systematically explore the effect of soil electrical conductivity on soil moisture determination using time domain reflectometry (TDR). A Moisture Point MP-917 soil moisture instrument (E.S.I. Environmental Sensors Inc., Victoria, BC, Canada) was used to measure propagation time (time delay) of a step function along a probe imbedded in fine sand with different moisture and salinity. The volumetric soil water content was independently determined using a balance. With the help of the diode-switching technique, MP-917 could detect the reflection from the end of the probe as the electrical conductivity of saturated soil extract (ECe) increased to 15.29 dS m−1. However, the relationship between volumetric soil water content and propagation time expressed as T/Tair (the ratio of propagation time in soil to that in air over the same distance) deviated from a linear relationship as the conductivity exceeded 3.72 dS m−1. At the same water content, the time delay in a saline soil was longer than that in a non-saline soil. This leads to an over-estimation of volumetric soil water content when the linear calibration was applied. A logarithmic relationship between volumetric soil water content and T/Tair has been developed and this relation includes soil electrical conductivity as a parameter. With this new calibration, it is possible to precisely determine the volumetric water content of highly saline soil using TDR. Key words: Time domain reflectometry, time delay, bulk electrical conductivity (σ), volumetric soil water content (θ), relative permittivity or dielectric constant (εr), propagation velocity Vp