SOIL WATER

MEASUREMENTS
-Water Properties and definitions:

Symbols:
V = volume [L3]
ρ = density [M/L3]
θ = moisture content [M/M] or [L3/L3]
n = porosity [L3/L3]
m = mass [M]

1. Soil - soil particles and void spaces between particles. Void spaces may contain liquid
(often water) or gas (generally air) phases. The soil particles may be mineral or organic.

2. Bulk Volume (VB) - Undisturbed volume of a soil sample, including soil particles and
pore space; generally taken to be the volume of a sample core cylinder
3. Soil water - The aqueous liquid phase in the void spaces of a soil. This includes water
(the primary constituent) and any dissolved chemical species.
4. Bulk Density (ρB) - The mass of an oven-dry soil sample divided by the in-situ bulk
volume of the soil, including soil particles and voids.
m
ρB = d
VB
5. Porosity (n) - The volume of pore space divided by the bulk volume of soil.

Vpore ρB
n= =1 −
VB ρp

6. Particle density (ρ p) - The mass of soil particles divided by the volume of soil particles
(NOT the bulk soil volume). Often assumed as 2.65-2.68 g/cm3 for silicate minerals.
7. Soil Moisture, mass basis (θ m) - Mass of water in a soil sample divided by the oven dry
mass of the soil sample.
m H2O m w − m d
θm = =
md md

8. Soil Moisture, volume basis (θ v) - Volume of water in a soil sample divided by the bulk
volume of the soil sample.
VH 2O
θV = = θm ⋅ ρB
VB

9. Field capacity (FC) - The soil moisture when drainage essentially ceases (1/3 bar tension).
Function of soil. Expressed as depth in root zone or volumetric moisture content.
10. Wilting point (WP) - The soil moisture when plants can no longer extract water from
the soil, causing the plant to permanently wilt (15 bars tension). Function of soil.
Expressed as depth in root zone or volumetric moisture content.
11. Total Available Water (TAW) - The difference between FC and WP. Expressed as
depth in root zone or volumetric moisture content.

Soil Texture Porosity (%) Bulk Density (g/cm3) Field Capacity (%)
 Sand 32-42 1.55-1.8 10-20
Sandy Loam 40-47 1.4-1.6 15-27
Loam 43-49 1.35-1.5 25-36
Clay Loam 47-51 1.3-1.4 31-42
Silty Clay 49-53 1.3-1.4 35-45
Clay 51-55 1.2-1.3 39-49

12. Management Allowable Deficit (MAD) - The percent of TAW that can be used before
irrigation. Function of soil and crop.
13. Readily Available Water (RAW) - TAW*MAD. Expressed as depth in root zone or
volumetric moisture content.
14. Depletion - Amount of water necessary to bring soil moisture up to field capacity, or
the water necessary to bring soil to field capacity divided by TAW. Expressed as depth in
root zone or volumetric moisture content.
15. Root Zone - The depth from which a crop can extract water. Function of crop and
field.
16. Evapotranspiration: Consumptive use of water by a crop environment composed of
evaporation and transpiration from the plant’s stomata. Generally expressed as a depth.
17. Irrigation interval - Time (usually in days) between irrigations so that the RAW is
used, then replenished. Equal to RAW/ET rate.
18. Required depth of irrigation - the depth of irrigation necessary to replenish the soil
reservoir to field capacity.

Measuring Soil Water

There are many methods for measuring soil water content. All of them have advantages and
disadvantages. Below are a few of the more important methods with the accompanying
advantages and disadvantages for each.

1) Gravimetric Method: Remove a sample from the field and determine mass of dry soil
ms and wet mass of the soil mw. Advantages:It is the most basic method.
Disadvantages:Destructive (you must destroy the sample to make the measurement).
Need to know bulk density (ρB) to get volumetric quantities.

2) Porous blocks: an indirect method in which the electrical conductivity of a porous

block is a functionn of the water absorbed from the soil by the block. Advantages:It is
fairly simple and inexpensive.Non destructive. Disadvantages: must be calibrated for
each soil. Calibration shifts slightly with time. Most units are insensitive, and
cosenquently not very accurate, in wet soil.

3) Neutron Moderation or Neutron Scattering method: Fast neutrons are emitted from a
radioactive source, usually radium and beryllium. The neutrons are thermalised or
slowed down by hydrogen atoms in the soil. The proportion of neutrons thermalised is
detected in the soil and recorded on the scaler. A simple calibration curve fits all soils
except those with a high clay content and those that contain large amounts of chlorine,
iron, or boron. Advantages:Measures a large volume (although the volume measured
depends on the water content of the soil). Measures Volumetric water content (θ v).
Non destructive.

Disadvantages:Equipment is very expensive. Not sensitive near the surface.

Equipment has some delicate electronic components that are difficult to maintain. The
neutron source can be hazardous if improperly handled. Measures a large volume
(which may be good or bad depending on the application). Each unit must be
calibrated. The ratio calibration method is best because it corrects for electronic drift
 and decay of sources strength. The equation for calculating volume water content,
(θ v, is

(θ v)= [Rs (b-j)/Rstd]

In which b and j are calibration factors, Rs is the count rate in the soil, and R std is the
count rate in the shield.

The Value/Importance of Soil Water Measurements:

There are three general reasons why a knowledge of soil water content is important. These
are:
1) A knowledge of soil water content and other soil properties allows one to infer the
influence of water on plant growth.

2) A knowledge of soil water is necessary to compute the amount irrigation or rainfall needed
or the depth of penetration of a given amount of water and carry out soil-water modelling.

3) Consecutive measurements of water content profiles allow computation of

evapotranspiration (the largest output in the hydrologic cycle).

The hydrological cycle can be mathematically represented by:

Et = Pn + I-Ro -ΔDe -Dr

in which Et is evapotranspiration, Pn is precipitation, I is irrigation, Ro is net run off, ΔDe is the
increase in soil water storage, Dr is drainage. If Et is to be estimated from the above equation,
we must know the the factors on the right hand side of the equation. Values of ΔD e can be
determined by any of the prevously discussed methods for measuring soil water content and
Pn and I are easily measured. The other factors (Ro and Dr) are usually unkonown and can be
estimated independently. For estimate purposes they are often considered zero but this
practise produces large errors in calculating Et.