Soil Moisture Measurement

Suggested Objectives

• Determine appropriate method of soil moisture measurement for given specific site conditions.
• Specify methods and procedures to obtain accurate measurements.
• Perform soil measurement using applicable procedures and tools.

Suggested Outline

• “Feel” Method.
• Tensiometers.
• Electrical Resistivity.
• Laboratory (Gravimetric) Method.
• Neutron Gauge
• Diaelectric Constant Method. (Time Domain Reflectometry).

Note: Note all copies of documents that were contained in the original Irrigation Training Toolbox are available electronically.

If you are unable to find a hard copy of a document in your state, you may be able to borrow a copy from the Water Management Engineer at your regional National technology Support Center

• Estimating Soil Moisture By Feel and Appearance, NRCS. PA 1619.
• Soil Moisture Monitoring: An Overview of Monitoring Methods and Devices.Water Management Note, High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1.

Videos

• Video 016 “Agricultural Irrigation Scheduling - The Irrometer Story”, Irrometer Company (22:19)
  
• Video 017 “REFLECTIONS - Soil Moisture Monitoring”, NRCS, NM (9:35)

There are many extension documents about soil moisture mwasurement. The following is a sample of 8.

• New Jersey Irrigation Scheduling with the Feel Method
• Colorado Estimating Soil Moisture
• South Dakota Measuring Soil Moisture for Irrigation Water Management

• New Jersey Irrigation Scheduling with Tensiometers

• South Dakota Irrigation Management: Using Electrical Resistance Blocks
• Kansas Scheduling Irrigations by Electrical Resistance Blocks
• Nebraska Watermark Granular Sensor Matrix to Measure Soil Matric Potential for Irrigation Management
• Oregon Irrigation Monitoring Using Soil Water Tension