scholarly journals Effect of Soil Moisture Evaporation Rate on Dynamic Measurement of Water Retention Curve with High-Capacity Tensiometer

Author(s):  
Meghdad Bagheri ◽  
Mohammad Rezania
2020 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 03005
Author(s):  
Arash Azizi ◽  
Ashutosh Kumar ◽  
Mwajuma Ibrahim Lingwanda ◽  
David Geoffrey Toll

The water retention curve is fundamental for a comprehensive description of the hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. The water retention testing system developed at Durham University allows direct and continuous measurement of suction using a high capacity tensiometer, water content determined from mass readings of a digital balance and measurements of volume change. The system was modified to accommodate an additional tensiometer to measure suction at the top besides the existing one at the bottom of the soil specimen. Soil specimens were subjected to drying and wetting following two procedures: discrete measurements carried out in stages to ensure equalisation and continuous measurement at different rates. All suctions measured during continuous and discrete measurements were very close at high saturation degrees. At lower saturation degrees, the suction values from the top and bottom of the specimen deviated from suctions observed in discrete measurements. This deviation in suction values was more evident in accelerated drying and wetting patterns. This can be explained by the fact that water permeability reduces with the decrease in saturation levels.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 2585-2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany L. Scott ◽  
Tyson E. Ochsner ◽  
Bradley G. Illston ◽  
Christopher A. Fiebrich ◽  
Jeffery B. Basara ◽  
...  

Abstract Soil moisture data from the Oklahoma Mesonet are widely used in research efforts spanning many disciplines within Earth sciences. These soil moisture estimates are derived by translating measurements of matric potential into volumetric water content through site- and depth-specific water retention curves. The objective of this research was to increase the accuracy of the Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data through improved estimates of the water retention curve parameters. A comprehensive field sampling and laboratory measurement effort was conducted that resulted in new measurements of the percent of sand, silt, and clay; bulk density; and volumetric water content at −33 and −1500 kPa. These inputs were provided to the Rosetta pedotransfer function, and parameters for the water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity functions were obtained. The resulting soil property database, MesoSoil, includes 13 soil physical properties for 545 individual soil layers across 117 Oklahoma Mesonet sites. The root-mean-square difference (RMSD) between the resulting soil moisture estimates and those obtained by direct sampling was reduced from 0.078 to 0.053 cm3 cm−3 by use of the new water retention curve parameters, a 32% improvement. A >0.15 cm3 cm−3 high bias on the dry end was also largely eliminated by using the new parameters. Reanalysis of prior studies that used Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data may be warranted given these improvements. No other large-scale soil moisture monitoring network has a comparable published soil property database or has undergone such comprehensive in situ validation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teamrat Ghezzehei ◽  
Jennifer Alvarez ◽  
Yocelyn Villa ◽  
Rebecca Ryals

<p>The dynamics of soil organic matter is strongly controlled by the hydrophysical environmental factors, including motility, aqueous diffusivity of substrates, gaseous diffusivity, and energetic constraints on microbial physiology. The relationships among these physical factors depend on soil moisture and the architecture of the soil pores. In this regard, the soil water retention curve can serve as a macroscopic signature of pore-size distribution. Therefore, the sensitivity of aerobic and anaerobic microbial activity must be closely associated with the shape of the soil water retention curve. The soil water retention curve is, in turn, strongly dependent on soil texture and structure. Here, we present a physically-based model of aerobic and anaerobic microbial respiration rates. We also present a novel experimental technique for the characterization of the soil-moisture sensitivity of soil microbial activity. The proposed experimental and modeling approaches allow direct coupling of the fate soil organic matter with the nature of soil structure.</p>


Author(s):  
M. I. Romashchenko ◽  
T. V. Matіash ◽  
V. O. Bohaienko ◽  
V. P. Kovalchuk ◽  
O. P. Voitovich ◽  
...  

The paper provides an overview of models and software used in decision support systems in irrigation. The models of biomass accumulation or evapotranspiration are the base of decision support systems in irrigation. The overview of the most famous systems is given, as well as an innovative irrigation control system "Irrigation online" is presented. The objective of the work is to share the experience of development and implementation of irrigation management systems and outline the ways of their improvement. The "Irrigation online" system consists of hardware and software components. The part of the system's hardware is located in the field consisting of iMetos or Davis weather stations, as well as of own-developed equipment. The software part, intended for storing, processing and providing recommendations, is hosted and run on a server. It sends the recommendations about start watering and necessary irrigation rates to a user’s computer or mobile device. The system is based on modelling of moisture transfer, automated measurements of soil moisture and meteorological indicators in the field and weather data from automated forecast web-sites. Water retention curve of  soil and the dependence of the moisture transfer coefficient on the head, which are the input parameters of the model, are given  for every layer according to the van Genuchten-Mualem Model. The application of the system took place in 2019 in SE EF“Askaniiske” Kherson region and LLC “APC “Mais” in Cherkasy region. The system "Irrigation Online" provided the recommendations on watering winter rape, wheat, corn, soybeans, alfalfa and potatoes. The system provided the recommendations on watering winter rape, wheat, corn, soybeans, alfalfa and potatoes. It was specified that the use of the system "Irrigation Online" enables to schedule irrigation regimes, the implementation of which requires watering with less (by 15-25%) in comparison with the current irrigation rates, due to which  more favourable conditions for the maximum realization of crop varieties and hybrids potential  are created. It is accompanied by enhancing the environmental safety of irrigation as a result of minimization of irrigation water losses for infiltration. Irrigation control system "Irrigation Online" uses a range of soil moisture suction pressure rather than a soil moisture range as an optimum moisture supply range for plants. For setting up irrigation terms and rates, the value of suction pressure, which corresponds to the part of water field capacity when it is determined by water retention curve of soil, is taken. The pre-irrigation threshold of suction pressure is the value, which at non-irrigation for some short period will not cause water stress for plants Monitoring of meteorological parameters and soil moisture level in the "Irrigation Online" system allows daily adjusting irrigation terms and rates for next 5 day period and significantly improves the accuracy of their forecasting.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
O.O.S. BACCHI ◽  
K. REICHARDT ◽  
J.C.M. OLIVEIRA ◽  
D.R. NIELSEN

The soil water retention curve is fundamental for the hydraulic characterization of a soil and has many applications in agricultural research as well as in practical agriculture. A new procedure for soil moisture and soil bulk density evaluation inside closed pressure chambers through gamma-ray beam attenuation is presented. The proposed procedure presents several advantages in relation to the traditional process: avoids the need of continuous sample manipulation; minimizes the problem of hysteresis; allows a more precise evaluation of soil moisture by taking into account changes of soil bulk density due to swelling or shrinking on addition or removal of water; allows frequent evaluation of soil moisture without the need of opening the pressure chamber; allows a more precise judgement of equilibrium; reduces drastically the time of the determination of the retention curve and allows easy automation of data acquisition by a computer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 477-487
Author(s):  
Gilmar Batista Grigolon ◽  
Adriano Valentim Diotto ◽  
Carlos José Gonçalves de Souza Lima ◽  
João Paulo Francisco ◽  
Marcos Vinícius Folegatti

The soil hydro-physical characteristics are very important for studies about soil water dynamics. The soil water retention curve it is a soil characteristic sometimes expensive and time consuming to be done and could be a problem for farmers. The numbers of points and its tension evaluated are normally choose arbitrarily. This study aimed to define the fewest pairs of soil moisture and water soil potential points which result in a reliable water retention curve in two different soils (sandy and clay). Using different tensions by suction table and Richards’ pressure chamber, nine replications were adjusted by van Genuchten's equation. Curves with 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 13 points were studied and the curve with 13 points was adopted as standard. The obtained parameters for different pairs of soil moisture and their corresponding soil water potential were compared to the equivalent standard curve and submitted to analysis of variance (F test), and their values were compared by the Scott-Knott test (5% of probability). The curve with 7 points, using the tensions of 0; 40; 100; 300; 1,000; 5,000 e 15,000 hPa, was the lower number of points that did not showed statistical difference in any parameters of the model and the point with 15,000 hPa shown to be important and should be used on the combination of points to obtain a good adjustment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Zhao ◽  
Yijian Zeng ◽  
Xujun Han ◽  
Bob Su

<p>Basic soil physical properties (i.e., soil texture and organic matter) and associated soil hydraulic properties (i.e., soil water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity) play an essential role in land surface models (LSMs) for estimating soil moisture. With the physical link between soil properties, LSMs and Radiative Transfer Models (RTMs), the soil physical properties can be retrieved, using a LSM coupled with a microwave L-band emission observation model in a data assimilation framework. To this purpose, this paper couples an enhanced physically-based discrete scattering-emission model with the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM), to retreive soil physical properties using the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) algorithm, assimilating Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Level-1C (L1C) brightness temperature at H and V polarization ( and ) separately, assisted with in situ measurements at the Maqu site on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Results show the improved estimate of soil properties at the topmost layer via assimilating SMAP ( H, V), as well as at profile using the retrieved top-layer soil properties and a prior depth ratio. The use of  and  shows varied sensitivities to retrievals of different soil compositions (i.e., sand, clay, silt) and soil moisture estimates. However, analyses show that the retrieved soil properties with fine accuracy are not sensitive factors affecting soil moisture estimates. Instead, uncertainties of CLM model structures shall be considered, such as the fixed PTFs (pedotransfer functions), the hydraulic function describing soil water retention curve and the water stress function determining root water update.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 869-877
Author(s):  
Vasile Lucian Pavel ◽  
Florian Statescu ◽  
Dorin Cotiu.ca-Zauca ◽  
Gabriela Biali ◽  
Paula Cojocaru

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