Soil moisture sensors are devices designed to measure the amount of water present in the soil. These sensors are crucial tools in various fields, including agriculture, environmental science, hydrology, and land management, as they provide essential information about soil water content, helping to optimize irrigation, enhance crop yields, conserve water resources, and study hydrological processes. There are several types of soil moisture sensors, each with its own principles of operation, advantages, and limitations
Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) sensors are a type of technology used for measuring soil moisture content based on the principles of electromagnetic wave propagation. TDR sensors are widely used in agriculture, environmental science, and hydrology to provide accurate and real-time measurements of soil moisture levels. Click for more details.
FDR sensors utilize capacitance based technology to provide near continuous measurements within the soil profile / material being measured. By creating a high frequency electrical field around the sensor, extending into the surrounding environment, the sensors detect the changes in dielectric constant, or permittivity, of the soil over time. At high frequency the measurement is affected predominantly by water molecules. The greater the amount of water, the smaller the frequency measured by the sensor.
The ability to monitor moisture across a soil profile at specific depths is a unique asset. This is brought to us by our principal Sentek Technologies of Australia.
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