Measurement of soil profile water content with the Profile Probe
The soil water content in the plant root zone can be directly or indirectly measured.
In the direct measurement method, a soil sample is taken directly with the help of a screw-like tool, weighed, and heated at 105°C. For this reason, the method is based on gravimetric considerations and is very tedious, laborious, and time-consuming.
In the indirect measurement methods, the soil water content cannot be measured directly.
What is done here is to measure another parameter that changes depending on the water content in the soil.
That is to calibrate it against the soil water content.
In this study, it was aimed to determine the soil water content easily and relatively by using an indirect method in greenhouse conditions.
For this purpose, the Profile Probe type PR2 was first calibrated based on the gravimetric soil water content method in the greenhouse conditions.
Then, to evaluate the calibration work, vegetation was done under greenhouse conditions with the use of three different irrigation applications.
For plant production, irrigation water was applied to the plant root region by the drip irrigation method.
During one production season, the plant root zone soil water content was monitored with the Profile Probe type PR2. Using the equation obtained from the calibration run, the Profile Probe type PR2 measurements were converted to volumetric water content.
In the study, it was found that the profile Probe type PR2 could be used to relatively determine the soil water content.
In addition, it was also concluded that a detailed calibration study, taking into account the possible changes such as temperature, salinity, etc., would be more useful and more accurate.
Kaman, H. and Özbek, Ö. (2021). Measurement of soil profile water content with the Profile Probe. Acta Hortic. 1315, 489-494
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1315.72
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1315.72
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1315.72
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1315.72
full irrigation, deficit irrigation, calibration equation, gravimetric soil water
English
1315_72
489-494
- Division Temperate Tree Fruits
- Division Tropical and Subtropical Fruit and Nuts
- Division Vine and Berry Fruits
- Division Temperate Tree Nuts
- Division Ornamental Plants
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Division Physiology and Plant-Environment Interactions of Horticultural Crops in Field Systems
- Division Postharvest and Quality Assurance
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Horticulture for Development