Determination Of Soil Moisture Content Research Articles

Interplay of Soil and Plant Characteristics in Determining Soil Moisture Content in Sal Forest

This research paper delves into the intricate dynamics between soil and plant characteristics and their combined influence on soil moisture content in Sal forests. Sal (Shorea robusta), a dominant tree species in various parts of Asia, plays a crucial role in forest ecosystems, particularly in terms of water cycling and soil fertility. This study utilizes a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing soil science, botany, and environmental physics, to dissect the factors influencing soil moisture retention in these forests. The methodology involves a comprehensive analysis of soil propertiesand plant traits. The paper posits that a synergistic relationship between these soil and plant characteristics significantly impacts soil moisture levels, with implications for forest health and management. Findings from this research not only contribute to a deeper understanding of Sal Forest ecosystems but also offer practical insights for sustainable forest management practices, particularly in the context of climate change and water scarcity. Through its novel integration of various scientific disciplines, the study highlights the complexity of forest ecosystems and the need for holistic management approaches that consider both soil and plant factors in maintaining ecological balance.

Using the SWAT model to characterise the water regime of soils in agrolandscapes

The classification of soils water regimes a basic scientific basis in the form of an interdependent relationship between the movement of water and the formation of a soil profile, i. e. it is soil-genetic classification. This kind of classification provides a scientific and methodological platform for studying both the water regimes of soils in the landscape and the distribution of soils in the soil cover of the landscape. Numerical methods for representing the hydrological regimes of soils in the agricultural landscape are based on physically validated mathematical models of the soil water movement and spatial GIS information, which together allow to calculate, analyze and predict soil water regime, runoff in the scale of watersheds, substance transport in the soil profile, leaching processes, as well as the content of available soil moisture reserves in the agrolandscape structure – which is important for practice. A spatial-dynamic SWAT (Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Tool) model is presented to describe the water regimes of soils in the agro-landscape of the finite moraine ridge of the Upper Volga postglacial region (East European Plain, Tver region), as an example of landscape numerical hydrological models. Some examples are given in the article, which demonstrate that modeled data correspond well with experimental data on soil moisture dynamics in several points of agrolandscape for 3 depth levels, reflecting surface, deep (at groundwater level) and middle layers of soil profile, i. e. 10–20, 50–60 and 90–100 cm. On the one hand, the data were obtained by calculations with the help of the considered landscape-dynamic model; and on the other hand, – by classical soil drilling, sampling and gravimetric method for soil moisture content determination. It has been shown that the landscape model, adapted for specific conditions, using a digital elevation model with a resolution of 1×1 m per pixel, to calculate the soil water regime at different points of the agrolandscape satisfactorily describes the spatial-dynamic profile data on soil moisture.

Soil Moisture Content from Spectral Reflectance Using Visible, Near-Infrared, and Short-Wave Infrared Light

Quantification of soil moisture content is important for understanding physical processes that occur on and within the earth. The methods that are currently used for the determination of soil moisture content are point-based (gravimetry, time-domain reflectometry, neutron scattering, or gamma ray scanning). Remote sensing methods exist but have several disadvantages (poor resolution and dependence on local meteorological conditions). The objective of the study described herein was to determine soil moisture content by means of remote sensing from hyperspectral imagery. Reflectance values obtained from optical remote sensing (wavelengths from 350 nm to 2,500 nm) were acquired from materials with different moisture content levels. Reflectance values, obtained from a spectroradiometer, were obtained for three soils and two commercial sands and then correlated with the initial soil moisture content obtained from gravimetric methods. The correlations were based on the collected reflectance values at prescribed wavelengths and a continuum analysis across all wavelengths. For all investigated materials, the reflectance values decreased with increasing moisture content. The best results were obtained when 1,900 nm was considered (coefficients of determination greater than 0.94, indices of agreement greater than 0.97, coefficients of efficiency greater than 0.41, mean absolute error less than 1.2 percent, and root mean square error less than 1.6 percent). With the continuum analysis, 1,450 nm was the best wavelength. Based on these results, a correlation was observed to exist between soil moisture content and the spectral reflectance values. Using this technique, the determination of soil moisture content can be rapidly obtained (within seconds).

Water Use Efficiency in Young Citrus Trees on Metalized UV Reflective Mulch Compared to Bare Ground

A precise estimation of plant water use is crucial for efficient irrigation management and understanding of plant–water interactions. Metalized-polyethylene mulch as a ground cover, combined with irrigation management, can improve water and fertilizer use, efficiency growth, and yield of young citrus trees, compared to bare ground. Thus, a study was undertaken to (i) compare daily water use, using the stem heat balance (SHB) method on ≤4-year-old citrus trees using three irrigation methods, and (ii) to determine soil moisture content, as well as total available soil water (TASW) in the irrigated zone. Three irrigation methods, regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), conventional drip irrigation (CD), and microsprinkler irrigation (MS), were applied on two sandy soils in central and southwest Florida with treatments further split between trees grown on 2.4 m mulched beds (M) and bare ground (NM) to form a factorial design. Measurements included sap flow, canopy size, leaf area index (LAI) and soil moisture. The result of this study shows greater values for the trunk cross-sectional area, canopy volume and LAI for both mulch treatments, in comparison to bare ground treatments. The sap flow data suggest that RDI resulted in higher water use than both CD and MS. The hourly sap flow was 120, 99 and 163% greater in M-RDI than M-CD, NM-CD and NM-MS, respectively. Mulched ground cover showed a higher soil moisture average at all soil layers (8-, 15- and 45-cm depth). For instance, the mulched ground cover showed higher soil moisture (37%) at a 15 cm depth at the Entisol site, followed by 30% at a 45 cm depth and 25.3% at depth 45 cm for the Spodosol site. The TASW values varied between 100 to 136% for both mulch and bare ground treatments. The irrigation systems used showed water contents close to field capacity, indicating that water was not limiting despite the different irrigation schedules. The high-water uptake is ascribed to frequent irrigation applications and pulses, and improved water distribution in the irrigated zone as a result of the mulch. These findings demonstrate the potential of metalized-polyethylene mulch and regulated drip irrigation to enhance water use efficiency.

Prediction of Soil Moisture Content through Photographs of Cobalt Chloride Filter Paper in Contact with Soil Specimens

Abstract Measured soil moisture content is a useful geotechnical engineering property for a variety of analyses. The laboratory determination of soil moisture content can be time consuming, labor intensive, or both; the field determination of soil moisture content may require additional certification, as associated with the use of the nuclear density gauge. The objective of this research was to identify a method that could be used to determine the soil moisture content without the aforementioned disadvantages. This objective was achieved through the use of cobalt chloride filter paper being placed into contact with the soil. The cobalt chloride filter paper changes color in the presence of moisture (a blue color when the paper is dry and a pink color when the paper is wet). A membrane separated the cobalt chloride paper and the surface of soil specimens (kaolinite, bentonite, Donna Fill, and a silty sand) to prevent cobalt chloride migration. The soil specimens were prepared at different moisture contents, and photography-based hue values were determined for each soil/cobalt chloride filter paper pair at given time intervals. Linear correlations were observed to exist between the soil moisture content and the slope of the linear portion of the hue-time relationship for all of the investigated soil types. The coefficients of determination (R2) ranged from .91 to .99. All soils showed a strong positive linear relationship between the slope of the cobalt chloride hue and soil moisture content. This use of hue may provide a rapid determination of in situ soil moisture content.

Nontradional Detection of Soil Moisture Content Based On Hyperspectral Imaging Technique

In the study, Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging technique was investigated for non-destructive determination of soil moisture content. A total of 208 spectral information of soil samples by hyperspectral imaging system were collected. The differences between soil's moisture content and spectral changes were compared. Different methods of spectral data preprocessing methods, characteristic wavelengths extraction, and building models had influences on the performance of model established. Results from this investigation demonstrated that the reflectivity of soil spectrum were declining with the increase of soil moisture content. Once soil moisture content reached the limit of the field water holding capacity, the reflectivity of soil spectrum were increasing with the increase of soil moisture content. The methods of different pretreatment were analyzed, and the pretreatment method of normalization of unit vector was proposed. The number of characteristic wavelengths extracted by the method of uninformative variable eliminate (UVE), competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), beta coefficient (β), successive projections algorithm (SPA) were 49, 30, 5, 7, respectively. In order to reduce data redundancy, characteristic wavelengths extracted by the method of UVE and CARS were further extracted by SPA method. The number of characteristic wavelengths extracted by the method of UVE + SPA and CARS + SPA were 5, 8, respectively. The MLR model built based on the characteristic wavelengths extracted by the β coefficient was chosen as the best model, which of the optimal characteristic wavelengths were 411, 440, 622, 713, 790 nm, respectively. The correlation coefficient (Rp) and the root mean square error (RMSEP) for prediction set were 0.979 and 0.763, respectively. Therefore, it is feasible to predict soil moisture content using hyperspectral imaging technique. Bangladesh J. Bot. 51(4): 1039-1049, 2022 (December) Special

ASSESSMENT OF SOIL MOISTURE AND NUTRIENTS ON TERRACE SLOPE OF HARD-SETTING SOILS IN SEMI-ARID EASTERN KEN

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Terraces are structures consisting of ditches and embankments used to control erosion and increase land productivity. There is, however, little emphasis on the effects of the ditch dimensions on soil moisture and nutrient dynamics. <strong>Objective:</strong> To determine the effect of varying ditch depths on soil moisture and nutrient quantities and their variability within the terrace slope on hard-setting soils. <strong>Methodology:</strong> Soil samples were collected seasonally in 2014 and 2015 from terraces with different ditch depths (60, 30, and 0 [control] cm) for the determination of soil moisture content (SMC). The samples were collected from the upper, middle and lower slope positions of each terrace. Soil from the three slope positions of each terrace was also sampled at the end of the study and analyzed for total nitrogen (%TN), available phosphorous (Av. P), exchangeable potassium (K<sup>+</sup>) and % organic carbon (OC) contents. Data were subjected to a two-way analysis of variance and differences in means determined at a 95% level of confidence. <strong>Results:</strong> Significant interactions (P<0.001) in SMC were observed between seasons, ditch depths and slope positions. Higher SMC was found in treatments with 30 and 60 cm ditch depths in all the slope positions and seasons compared to the control. Soil moisture contents in the lower and upper slope positions were significantly different between the terraces with 30 and 60 cm ditch depths when rainfall was high and evenly distributed, but non-significant in poorly distributed rainfall seasons. Significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in contents of total nitrogen and available phosphorous were found between the upper and lower slope positions of the terraces with ditches. <strong>Implications: </strong>The effect of ditch depths on moisture, total nitrogen and available phosphorous contents and their variability within the slope depended on the amount and distribution of rainfall. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>Construction of terraces with shallow ditch depths (of 30 cm) is recommended to conserve soil moisture and nutrients nitrogen and phosphorous on hard-setting soils in the marginal areas of semi-arid Eastern Kenya. </p>

Quasi-3D mapping of soil moisture in agricultural fields using electrical conductivity sensing

Knowledge of real time spatial distribution of soil moisture has great potential to improve yield and profit in agricultural systems. Recent advances in non-invasive electromagnetic induction (EMI) techniques have created an opportunity to determine soil moisture content with high-resolution and minimal soil intrusion. So far, EMI has mainly been used for homogenous soil conditions, which are not common in agriculture and results are mainly validated by excavated pits or calibration models using soil samples on a transect. This study converts apparent electrical conductivity data recorded with a Dualem-1Hs EM-metre for two surveys of variable moisture conditions (dry and wet season) with 2475 and 2174 data points over 5.4 ha, in a field with a contrasting vertical soil profile into spatiotemporal management zones. A least square inversion algorithm was used to determine electrical conductivities for individual soil layers of 0–0.5 m, 0.5–0.8 m and 0.8–1.6 m. Soil samples from the depth of 0.5 m and 0.8 m were used for soil moisture calibrations. A laboratory experiment under controlled conditions developed electric conductivity vs volumetric water content relations with power law functions for required soil depth slices with R2 values between 0.98 and 0.99. Subsequently, EMI data were converted to volumetric water contents for each layer and predictions were spatially displayed. Median change between the measured apparent conductivity and inverted values range from 6 to 17 mS m-1 resulting in 3–7% difference in volumetric water prediction. These EMI based soil moisture predictions were compared with neutron moisture metre measurements, with Pearson R values of 0.74 and 0.95 for the wet and dry season surveys, respectively. The method is robust and offers a comparatively fast method to estimate the soil moisture status in fields and subsequently make informed management decisions.

Seedbed preparation of the upper soil layer

Increasing crop yields is the most important condition for intensifying agricultural production. High quality of various technological operations of soil preparation can significantly increase yields. It is especially important to prepare soil before seeding, it forms a habitat for plants, ensures uniform seeding in depth. Using heavy machines in agriculture, surface and subsurface soil layers undergo mechanical deformation with inevitable deterioration of its physical and biological properties. Density of surface and subsurface horizons increases, number of pores with a size of 0.2 … 10 microns decreases, which determine soil moisture content. Productivity of cultivated plants is influenced by effective fertility of not only surface layer, but also machines and tractors. Many studies have established that soil deformation during movement of cultivator hoe or wedge consists of two stages. At the first stage, soil particles located in close proximity to the hoe are displaced forward, forcing the layers in front to compress, when stresses in soil reach their limit values, a shift occurs at some distance from the toe of the hoe. At the second stage, soil begins to intensively move forward and upward and move along surface of working body. In this regard, resistance of soil to movement of individual parts of working body will be different. The article describes research that helps to determine ground unevenness. One of the possible measures to prevent compaction of the subsurface is presented - improving technology of preparing upper surface soil layer.

Neutron beam preparation for soil moisture measurements: Nedis-PHITS and artificial neural networks study

The angular distribution of thermal neutrons scattered from the surface of a soil sample was used to determine soil moisture content. All simulations were performed assuming optimal dimensions of the designed collimator and AmO2-Be neutron source. Moreover, an assembly consisting of five Amersham X.l4 type capsular neutron sources was studied to obtain faster, more accurate data. The results showed promising agreement with previously published data and provided insights into potential applications for the construction of biological shielding of nuclear reactors.

Remote Soil Moisture Measurement from Drone-Borne Reflectance Spectroscopy: Applications to Hydroperiod Measurement in Desert Playas

The extent, timing, and magnitude of soil moisture in wetlands (the hydropattern) is a primary physical control on biogeochemical processes in desert environments. However, determining playa hydropatterns is challenged by the remoteness of desert basin sites and by the difficulty in determining soil moisture from remotely sensed data at fine spatial and temporal scales (hundreds of meters to kilometers, and hours to days). Therefore, we developed a new, reflectance-based soil moisture index (continuum-removed water index, or CRWI) that can be determined via hyperspectral imaging from drone-borne platforms. We compared its efficacy at remotely determining soil moisture content to existing hyperspectral and multispectral soil moisture indices. CRWI varies linearly with in situ soil moisture content (R2 = 0.89, p < 0.001) and is comparatively insensitive to soil clay content (R2 = 0.4, p = 0.01), soil salinity (R2 = 0.82, p < 0.001), and soil grain size distribution (R2 = 0.67, p < 0.001). CRWI is negatively correlated with clay content, indicating it is not sensitive to hydrated mineral absorption features. CRWI has stronger correlation with surface soil moisture than other hyperspectral and multispectral indices (R2 = 0.69, p < 0.001 for WISOIL at this site). Drone-borne reflectance measurements allow monitoring of soil moisture conditions at the Alvord Desert playa test site over hectare-scale soil plots at measurement cadences of minutes to hours. CRWI measurements can be used to determine surface soil moisture at a range of desert sites to inform management decisions and to better reveal ecosystem processes in water-limited environments.

Determining Soil Moisture Content and Material Properties with Dynamic Cone Penetrometer

This study utilised static triaxial and dynamic cone penetration tests to examine the identification of changes in strength in soil materials as a result of an increase in moisture content. The applicability of a light dynamic cone penetrometer device in railway environments was also studied. On a broader scale, the aim was to find an investigation method suited to field locations that identify low-quality or persistently moist materials directly from the structure. The triaxial tests found an apparent increase in shear strength when the water content dropped below 7%. Based on the series of laboratory tests, the dynamic cone penetrometer reacted strongly to material density, but the impact of moisture content was also evident. Furthermore, the results showed that dynamic cone resistance is a reasonably unfeasible metric for assessing the structural quality of materials consisting primarily of sand, due to the number of factors affecting the resistance. In the laboratory tests, the lowest dynamic cone resistances were measured in the material with the highest structural quality.

Site characterization for engineering purposes using geophysical and geotechnical techniques

Abstract Geophysical and geotechnical techniques were applied to determine the suitability of the sub-surface structure of Akole community area, Abeokuta, Nigeria, for the construction of engineering structures (CES). Four vertical electrical soundings (VES) were carried out, and 10 samples from different points at 1 m depth were analysed to determine soil moisture content, specific gravity (SG), Atterberg limits and California bearing ratio (CBR). The geoelectric sections revealed a maximum of five layers with the typical sounding curves of AKH and HKH types. Sieve analysis and tests for compaction limit, Atterberg limits, SG, optimum moisture content and maximum dry density for compaction limit revealed that samples SP2, SP3, SP4, SP6, SP7, SP8, SP9 and SP10 are of low plasticity with SG values that fall within the permissible range, while SP1 and SP5 are of medium plasticity and their SG values fall below the range of standard specifications. CBR analysis showed that SP1 and SP5 have low load-bearing capacities. VES 1 and 2, linked with SP1 and SP5, are considered unstable and unsuitable to support the CES with shallow foundations; however, excavation of weak layers up to a depth of 5 m and reinforcement will enable the support.

Development and testing of a capacitive digital soil moisture sensor with printed circuit board as a probe

The quantity and quality of water present in the soil determine to a greater extent the performance of agricultural crops. Real-time determination of moisture content has a greater advantage over the traditional gravimetric method of determining soil moisture content. Thus, this work was based on the design and construction of a cost effective digital capacitive soil moisture sensor for real-time measurement. The moisture sensors comprised four integrated units namely: power supply unit with a 9V DC battery as a power source, sensor unit with a locally sourced Printed Circuit Board (PCB) as the single sensing probe, control unit made up of PIC16f877 microcontroller programmed with a C language and the C source code compiled in Corporate Computer Services Compiler (CSS C) compiler development environment, and a 16x2 display unit which displays the readings in percentage moisture content (%MC) and capacitance (μF) of the soil obtained from the sensor on its screen. Standard gravimetric moisture content was carried out to get the calibration factor which was used to calibrate the sensor for reliability. The validation was done by taking the reprogrammed (calibrated) sensor to the field for further measurement, after which soil samples were collected for further gravimetric analysis. A regression equation was obtained by plotting the moisture content obtained from gravimetric method (%MCG) against that from sensor reading (%MCS) with a high degree correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.998. The developed capacitive soil moisture sensor is cheap, portable, reliable and easy to use even by local farmers.
 Keywords: Calibration, Capacitive sensor, Printed circuit board, Soil moisture content, Validation.

Ungrazed salt marsh has well connected soil pores and less dense sediment compared with grazed salt marsh: a CT scanning study

Salt marshes provide various ecosystem functions and services including flooding protection, wildlife habitats, and carbon storage. These functions and services could, however, be strongly impacted by anthropogenic activities such as livestock grazing – a common practice in the Wadden Sea salt marshes located in North west of Europe. To assess the impact of grazing on soil parameters, a total number of eight soil cores (⌀: 18 cm; L: 50 cm) were collected in areas with and without livestock grazing, and scanned using a Computed Tomography (CT) to characterize soil parameters including soil macroporosity, sediment density, and pores connectivity. Subsequently, sub-samples were taken for determination of soil moisture content (%) and bulk density (g cm−3). To account for the impact of grazing on soil drainage after tidal inundations, water table relative to soil surface was monitored during two flooding events. Our results demonstrated that grazed salt marsh has higher top-soil bulk density, and lower macroporosity and pore connectivity, than ungrazed marsh, due to soil compaction by livestock grazing. Moreover, grazed marsh has slower water drainage and that might keep the soil waterlogged for a longer period of time which has implications on lowering decomposition rate due to lower soil redox. This study provides evidence that grazing alters physical soil parameters in salt marsh. Consequently, grazing needs to be accounted for when evaluating how land use impacts ecosystem services and functions including carbon sequestration.

Discussion on the application of alcohol combustion method in the determination of soil moisture content

Moisture content is a very important parameter in earthwork filling. In the process of earthwork compaction, the moisture content of the compacted soil shall be measured in time, and the moisture content shall be compared with the design requirements to check whether it is qualified. However, the conventional drying method usually takes about 6 to 8 hours, which will have a great impact on the construction progress. Therefore, this paper mainly discusses the alcohol combustion method in the construction site to temporarily replace the drying method to determine the moisture content of soil. The optimum sampling quantity, combustion times and the range of moisture content of alcohol combustion method are obtained. Finally, it shows the accuracy of alcohol combustion method in the temporary determination of soil moisture content in the construction site.

DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE CONTENT IN SOIL BASED ON OVEN DRYING METHOD USING A MICROSTRIP PATCH SENSOR

The proposed design is analyzed of a pentagon shape of microstrip sensor for determination the soil moisture measurement. The proposed design is useful in agricultural field as well as measured the moisture with accuracy and it is designed on FR4 substrate with 1.676 thicknesses. Many methods are used for detecting the moisture but oven drying method is very cheap and easy to install. A new 2.3 GHz soil moisture sensor using microstrip transmission line is presented with good return loss -28dB and gain 3.2dB. The main advantages of the proposed sensor will be its high accuracy, quickness of measurement, low cost and ease of implementation. Since the sensor has low power consumption.
 Motivation/Background: The microstrip moisture sensor is helpful for detecting the moisture content of soil. The proposed patch sensor design is being beneficial in real time agricultural field for the determination of soil moisture content (MC). The actual moisture content in soil is determined using conventional, standard an oven drying method at operating frequency 2.3GHz with compact and low cost. The work has done at frequency range between 1GHz to 2GHz for detecting the soil moisture by using the cavity resonator technique and impedance bridge technique. These techniques are expensive, complex, no more accuracy and time consuming.
 Method: The proposed design has fabricated on FR4 substrate with 1.676mm thickness. The simulation analysis has carried out with the help of CST software and the experimental values will be measured by vector network analyzer. The experiment will be performed on the samples of soil and the results shows that the proposed method will be able to detect the high moisture content with high sensitivity and accuracy.
 Results: The proposed design, it will be very helpful for agricultural field because of got the good return loss as well as gain -28dB and 3.2dB at 2.3GHz and it can be fabricated and measured by the vector network analyzer
 Conclusions: The proposed design is analyzed for detecting the moisture content with the suitable parameters with the help of CST software as well as used the direct (oven drying) method, this is very easy and less time consuming.

Calibration and Validation of a Low-Cost Capacitive Moisture Sensor to Integrate the Automated Soil Moisture Monitoring System

Readily available moisture in the root zone is very important for optimum plant growth. The available techniques to determine soil moisture content have practical limitations owing to their high cost, dependence on labor, and time consumption. We have developed a prototype for automated soil moisture monitoring using a low-cost capacitive soil moisture sensor (SKU:SEN0193) for data acquisition, connected to the internet. A soil-specific calibration was performed to integrate the sensor with the automated soil moisture monitoring system. The accuracy of the soil moisture measurements was compared with those of a gravimetric method and a well-established soil moisture sensor (SM-200, Delta-T Devices Ltd, Cambridge, UK). The root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the soil water contents obtained with the SKU:SEN0193 sensor function, the SM-200 manufacturer’s function, and the SM-200 soil-specific calibration function were 0.09, 0.07, and 0.06 cm3 cm−3, for samples in the dry to saturated range, and 0.05, 0.08, and 0.03 cm3 cm−3, for samples in the field capacity range. The repeatability of the measurements recorded with the developed calibration function support the potential use of the SKU:SEN0193 sensor to minimize the risk of soil moisture stress or excess water application.

Application of the TDR Soil Moisture Sensor for Terramechanical Research.

This paper presents examples of the application of the TDR (Time-Domain Reflectometry) sensor in terramechanical research. Examples include the determination of soil moisture content during off-road vehicle mobility tests, the determination of snow density before and after the wheeling of a snow grooming machine and an airplane, as well as the monitoring of turf moisture on a grassy airfield for the analysis and prediction of safe and efficient flight operations (takeoff and landing). A handheld TDR meter was used in these experiments. Soil moisture data were correlated with the vehicle mobility index and a simple model for this correlation was derived. Using grassy airfield research, soil moisture data were related to meteorological impacts (precipitation, sunlight, etc.). Generally, it was concluded that the TDR meter, in its handheld version, was a useful tool in the performed research, but a field sensor that operates autonomically would be an optimal solution for the subject applications.

Determination of Soil Moisture Content using Laboratory Experimental and Field Electrical Resistivity Values

The efficiency of civil engineering structure require comprehensive geotechnical data obtained from site investigation. In the past, conventional site investigation was heavily related to drilling techniques thus suffer from several limitations such as time consuming, expensive and limited data collection. Consequently, this study presents determination of soil moisture content using laboratory experimental and field electrical resistivity values (ERV). Field and laboratory electrical resistivity (ER) test were performed using ABEM SAS4000 and Nilsson400 soil resistance meter. Soil sample used for resistivity test was tested for characterization test specifically on particle size distribution and moisture content test according to BS1377 (1990). Field ER data was processed using RES2DINV software while laboratory ER data was analyzed using SPSS and Excel software. Correlation of ERV and moisture content shows some medium relationship due to its r = 0.506. Moreover, coefficient of determination, R2 analyzed has demonstrate that the statistical correlation obtain was very good due to its R2 value of 0.9382. In order to determine soil moisture content based on statistical correlation (w = 110.68ρ-0.347), correction factor, C was established through laboratory and field ERV given as 19.27. Finally, this study has shown that soil basic geotechnical properties with particular reference to water content was applicably determined using integration of laboratory and field ERV data analysis thus able to compliment conventional approach due to its economic, fast and wider data coverage.