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An Instrument for in Situ Measurements of Soil Moisture Flow and Suction¹

ABSTRACT

A soil moisture flux transducer was built and tested in the laboratory under steady-state conditions in a column of Portneuf silt loam soil. Initial data indicate that the instrument may be developed into a useful field research tool. Its principal advantage is that measurements of moisture flow may be made without any prior information concerning the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil. Rather, one needs to know only a soil moisture convergence factor which is dependent on the state of the soil and the design of the transducer. While this convergence factor is dependent upon the soil moisture content, the dependence appears to be nearly an order of magnitude less than the dependence of hydraulic conductivity on soil moisture content. It may prove possible to develop the unit for installation in the field to provide continuous measurements of the unsaturated soil moisture flow in the tensiometer range with errors no greater than those arising from the natural heterogeneity of the soil.

¹ Contribution from the Northwest Branch, Soil and Water Conservation Research Division, ARS, USDA; Idaho Agr. Exp. Sta. cooperating.

² Research Soil Scientist, Snake River Conservation Research Center, Kimberly, Idaho.

Received for publication May 29, 1967. Accepted for publication October 11, 1967.