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Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2001 Publication Date: 10/1/2001 Citation: Seyfried, M.S., Murdock, M.D. 2001. Temperature effects on liquid water measurement in frozen soil. Agronomy Abstracts. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Time domain reflectometry (TDR) has become and important instrument for measuring the liquid water content of frozen soils. Recent research on TDR has shown that previously used approaches to describing temperature effects on TDR measurements may introduce substantial error. We present data from four soils at various water contents and temperatures that corroborate, at least qualitatively, these findings. Specifically, that the soil dielectric constant, which is the basis for soil water content measurement, may increase or decrease with temperature depending on the soil surface area at a constant soil water content. We then extend those results to examine how the presence of ice affects the measured soil dielectric constant. In principle, these measurements can be made with other instruments that measure either the soil dielectric constant or resistance. We also present supplementary data using other instruments to measure soil water content. |
