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Introduction

The subject of soil moisture has long been of interest in agriculture. For centuries the farmer has
picked up and felt a handful of soil to determine the best time to plough his fields. The amount of
moisture in the soil is also of great importance in hydrology, forestry, and soil- mechanics
engineering. Consequently, much effort has been expended in developing methods and
equipment for measuring soil moisture under field conditions.
Determination of soil moisture is one of the most difficult measurements required in the field of
hydrology. Measurement of soil moisture ranges from the method of feeling the soil to the use of
complicated electronic equipment using radioactive substances. The development of equipment
has been directed primarily toward instruments that continuously measure changes in moisture
content at a single sampling point.

Accurate measurement of soil moisture is very critical to all field studies of soil-plant-water
relationships. This is because soil moisture is a key variable in controlling the exchange of water
and heat energy between the land surface and the atmosphere through evaporation and plant
transpiration. As a result, soil moisture plays an important role in the development of weather
patterns and the production of precipitation.
Irrigation water management requires timely application of the right amount of water.
Competition for water, high pumping costs, and concerns for the environment are making good
water management more important. Managing irrigation water needs to combine a method of
measuring soil moisture with some method of irrigation scheduling. Measuring soil moisture
detects if there is a water shortage that can reduce yields or if there is excessive water application
that can result in water logging or leaching of nitrates below the root zone. Measuring soil
moisture also can build an awareness and knowledge of each irrigated field that is invaluable for

planning and management. Monitoring soil moisture levels is required for effective irrigation
water management.
The measurement technique should be reliable, dependable, simple, cost-effective and nondestructive. The neutron gauge meets all these requirement.

There are several methods of soil moisture measurements;


A. Gravimetric methods
B. Electrical-resistance methods.
C. Heat-diffusion methods
D. Absorption methods
E. Tensiometric methods
F. Penetration methods.
G. Radioactive methods

GRAVIMETRIC METHOD
The gravimetric method involves collecting a soil sample weighing the sample before and after
drying it, and calculating its original moisture content. The gravimetric method is the oldest but
still continues to be the most widely used method for obtaining data on soil moisture. Because it
is the only direct way of measuring soil moisture, it is required for calibrating the equipment
used in the other methods
ELECTRICAL-RESISTANCE
The electrical-resistance "blocks" developed by those named above operate on the principle that
resistance to the passage of an electrical current between two electrodes buried in the soil will
depend upon the moisture content of the soil. Nylon or Fiberglas fabric or plaster of Paris
surrounding the electrodes permits uniform contact with the soil moisture. When buried in the
soil, the porous material of the block readily absorbs moisture or gives it up so that the moisture
content of the block tends to stay in equilibrium with the moisture content of the soil. These

moisture-content changes cause changes in electrical resistance which are measured by a meter
at the surface. The resistance read on the meter is converted to moisture-content values by means
of a calibration chart. The calibration chart is prepared by correlation, either in the field or in the
laboratory, of gravimetric moisture-content values and resistance readings for the soil in which
the blocks are buried. Laboratory calibration consists of drying and intermittently weighing soil
cores in which blocks have been inserted. Field calibration consists of taking gravimetric
samples as close as possible to blocks that have been buried in the field, and relating the moisture
content of the sample to the measured resistance.
HEAT-DIFFUSION
The heat-diffusion method is based upon the principle that the heat conductivity of a soil varies
with its moisture content. The temperature rise caused by an electrically activated heat source
installed in the soil is measured by a sensitive temperature-measuring device and is correlated
with moisture content. Wet soil will conduct heat rapidly away from the heat source in the cell
and will thus have a smaller temperature rise than dry soil.
ABSORPTION
Livingston and Koketsu developed porous points or blocks that would absorb moisture from the
adjacent area when installed in the soil. The soil moisture was then estimated from the change in
weight of the points or blocks. Wilson and Stoeckeler did additional work on the use of
absorption blocks. Davis and Slater used an absorption block consisting of a porous chamber that
contained a close-fitting plug that could be removed for weighing. The plug overcame the
disadvantage of having to disturb the installations in the soil each time the blocks were to be
weighed. Dimbleby later developed a pencil-type absorption block which is stuck into the soil;
the moisture contents are estimated from the color changes of the "pencil." This method is more
qualitative than quantitative and has considerable inherent error; it has never been used
extensively.
TENSIOMETRIC
A tensiometer consists of a porous point or cup (usually ceramic) connected through a tube to a
pressure-measuring device. The system is filled with water and the water in the point or cup
comes into equilibrium with the moisture in the surrounding soil, water flows out of the point as
the soil dries and creates greater tension, or back into the point as the soil becomes wetter and

has less tension. These changes in pressure, or tension, are indicated on a measuring device,
usually a Bourdon-tube vacuum gauge or a mercury manometer. The tensiometer may also be
attached to a pressure recorder or to an electronic pressure transducer to maintain a continuous
record of tension changes.
PENETRATION
Moisture content may be estimated by relating it to the force required to push an instrument
through the soil. Allyn and Work

developed an instrument they called the "availameter" that

measured the force required to drive a pair of needles into a soil core. Allyn reported a newly
developed soil probe with which he found moisture-content estimation possible within 0.5
percent.
RADIOACTIVE METHODS
This method is based on the principle of measuring the slowing of neutrons emitted into the soil
from a fast-neutron source. The energy loss is much greater in neutron collisions with atoms of
low atomic weight and is proportional to the number of such atoms present in the soil. The effect
of such collisions is to change a fast neutron to a slow neutron. Hydrogen, which is the principal
element of low atomic weight found in the soil, is largely contained in the molecules of the water
in the soil. The number of slow neutrons detected by a counter tube after emission of fast
neutrons from a radioactive source tube is electronically indicated on a sealer.
Neutron Gauge
The neutron gauge use neutron emitting radioactive material for moisture measurement which is
in essence a measure of hydrogen-containing (hydrogenous) material. Water contains a large
amount of hydrogen. The radiation of high-energy (fast) neutrons interacts with the similar sized
nucleus of hydrogen atoms. The detector which is a gas filled chamber that is sensitive, not to
high-energy neutrons, but to very low energy (thermalized) neutrons. The source and detector are
fixed in position relative to each other and the measurement technique uses the backscatter
geometry.

The neutron source contains two materials: the radioactive, americium-241 ( 241 Am) and the nonradioactive, beryllium (Be). The

241

Am emits alpha particles and some photons.

initiate the process that results in neutron emission. Since the

The alphas

241

Am and Be are intimately mixed

together in the sealed source capsule, the alphas never escape. They do strike the Be and, in a
process called "alpha-in, neutron-out", cause the Be to release a high-energy neutron [9Be (, n)
12

C]. The individual neutrons may have any of several energies but they average about 5 MeV.

These high-energy neutrons are emitted in all directions. Of the ones that enter the media (e.g.
soil) to be measured, a small portion will interact with hydrogen nuclei and lose energy and
change direction.
The process of losing energy is called elastic scattering. Some of the neutrons will lose energy
and become "thermalized". A thermal neutron has reached the mean temperature of the material,
and has energy of about 0.025 eV. The detector is blind to high-energy neutrons, but is sensitive
to thermalized neutrons. So, the thermalized neutrons that scatter back into the detector will be
measured. The detector is a chamber filled with helium-3 (3 He) or boron trifluoride (BF) gas.

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