Summary of Advances in Heat‐Pulse Methods: Measuring Near‐Surface Soil Water Content
2018
Zhang, Xiao | Ren, Tusheng | Heitman, Joshua | Horton, Robert
Core Ideas Describes the method for determining near‐surface water content with heat pulse sensors. Temperature data prior to a heat‐pulse are used to reduce ambient temperature effects. The PILS–ABC model is used to minimize errors because of the soil–air interface. Surface layer soil water content is important for evaporation, surface energy balance, seed germination, residue decomposition, microbial activity, and many other biological, chemical, and physical processes. The standard method (i.e., the gravimetric method) for measuring soil water content requires destructive sampling and is unsuitable for continuous measurement. Techniques such as neutron thermalization and time domain reflectometry suffer relatively large errors in measuring soil water content near the surface. In a recent Methods of Soil Analysis article, the authors present the principles and procedures for using a heat‐pulse sensor to determine near‐surface soil water content.
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