ISSN:
1435-0661
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
v ) of 〈0.10 cm3 cm-3 after drainage due to gravity has ceased. Small changes in θv in the range of 0.02 to 0.08 cm3 cm-3 can greatly affect plant available water and, therefore, good calibration of soil water content sensors is necessary. The EnviroSCAN (Sentek Pty. Ltd., South Australia) is a multiple sensor capacitance probe capable of continuous measurement of soil water content by volume (θv). Many fine sand soils in Florida have plant available θv values of ≤0.08 cm3 cm-3. The manufacturer's calibration curve has very few data points 〈0.10 cm3 cm-3θv and no data in the 0.02 to 0.04 cm3 cm-3θv range. Because of the lack of data in this range, a calibration curve from 0.02 to 0.08 cm3 cm-3θv was developed for Candler fine sand (hyperthermic, uncoated Typic Quartzipsamments), Apopka fine sand (loamy, siliceous, hyperthermic Grossarenic Paleudults), and Immokalee fine sand (sand, siliceous, hyperthermic Arenic Alaquods) in two locations in Florida. Since calibration curves for the three soils did not differ significantly, data from the three soils were combined. An exponential calibration curve was developed (RMSE = 0.0085, R2 = 0.83). This equation provides substantially different estimates of water content in the 0.02 to 0.08 range than values obtained from the manufacturer's calibration. This improved calibration extends the range of the EnviroSCAN to include an important group of soils with very low water holding capacity.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
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