Low Cost and Simple Soil Moisture Measurement Using Multi-Level Capacitive Technique
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Abstract
Global warming and climate change can cause water scarcity and drought for agricultural areas. Automatic irrigation can be one of the possible solutions for optimum water usage but has to cooperate with soil moisture measurement. However, the devices for soil moisture measurement at present are relatively expansive and require high technical setup and test skills; especially, for multi-depth soil moisture measurement. This paper proposes an alternatively low cost, simple soil moisture profile measurement using the multi-level capacitive technique. The proposed measurement technique was developed and tested by observing the moisture and water absorption capacity of sand, loam and clay soils at a depth up to 30 cm from the ground surface. It is found that the proposed measuring prototype could clearly classify levels of water infiltration, distribution and storage for particular different levels of the soil samples (The uncertainty values: RMSE from soils sandy, loam and clay by less than 8.50, 10.72, and 16.19 VMC%). The results also showed feasibility of the technique that could be used to study behavior of plants and crops in order to achieve the optimum water and moisture supply profile for different types of their roots in particular different soil depths for the best growth rate or quality.
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