Measurement Insights

How to analyze soil moisture data

You’ve buried soil water content and water potential sensors in the ground, installed an ATMOS 41 in the field, and set up your ZL6 data logger. Your network of instruments has been collecting data for days, weeks, or even all season. Now what?

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Irrigation water management—3 tools you might be missing

Learn how to minimize water, fertilizer, labor, and herbicides while growing healthy plants.

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How do SATURO readings compare to double-ring infiltrometer readings?

We compared the SATURO against a double-ring infiltrometer and found that the two methods compare well, except in cases where there are large structural macropores that can be destroyed when subjected to the amount of force required to install the double-ring infiltrometer.

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Growing degree days—Using virtual weather vs weather stations

Not all weather data are created equal. Globally, regionally, nationally, citywide, or within a specific field – the scope and accuracy of weather data sources vary as much as the projects using them.

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How to determine thermal properties in soil/rock mix

How do you ensure that your calculations consider the thermal conductance of each material found within the soil profile, no matter its contents?

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Do bad rho values lead to power failures?

Even in a well-designed underground cable system, the soil may account for half or more of the total thermal resistance. A safe, professional installation requires actual measurement and evaluation of thermal rho.

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Water potential: A little history

Explore the history of water potential measurement

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A comparison of water potential instrument ranges

A range comparison of lab and field water potential instruments.

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Which grain size analysis method is right for you?

Learn the pros and cons of each method, and how to select which will be most effective for your application.

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How to analyze soil moisture data

You’ve buried soil water content and water potential sensors in the ground, installed an ATMOS 41 in the field, and set up your ZL6 data logger. Your network of instruments has been collecting data for days, weeks, or even all season. Now what?

Learn More

Irrigation water management—3 tools you might be missing

Learn how to minimize water, fertilizer, labor, and herbicides while growing healthy plants.

Learn More

Scientific weather station performance data and weather sensor comparisons

We performed comparison testing for ATMOS 41 vs. high-quality, research-grade non-METER sensors and conducted time-series testing for sensor-to-sensor variability. Here are the results.

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Determining drought tolerance in plants: Why most people do it wrong. How to do it right.

Water potential is underutilized by plant researchers in abiotic stress studies even though it is the only way to assess true drought conditions when determining drought tolerance in plants. Learn what water potential is and how it can improve the quality of your plant study.

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Measuring soil suction—Why filter paper isn’t good enough

Still waiting a week for filter paper? Get the right answer in minutes.

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About us | METER Environment

Our environmental scientists have decades of experience helping researchers and growers measure the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.

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How to use PAR for more efficient irrigation

Good irrigation management requires the answer to two questions: when to turn the water on and when to turn it off.

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How to find crop coefficients for irrigated grapevine production

Good irrigation management requires the answer to two questions: when do I turn the water on, and when do I turn it off?

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Why measure water potential?

A comprehensive look at the science behind water potential measurement.

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How to measure water potential

Compare current methods for measuring water potential and the pros and cons of each method.

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Plant available water: How do I determine field capacity and permanent wilting point?

Soil moisture sensors and water potential sensors work together to show you exactly when it's time to start and stop watering.

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Irrigation scheduling: Solve the mystery of when to water

Water potential is a better indicator of plant available water than water content, but in most situations it’s useful to combine the data from both sensors.

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Soil moisture sensing—evolved

TEROS sensors are more durable, accurate, easier and faster to install, more consistent, and linked to a powerful, intuitive near-real-time data logging and visualization system.

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Why TDR vs. capacitance may be missing the point

When considering which soil water content sensor will work best for any application, it’s easy to overlook the obvious question: what is being measured?

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Defining water potential—What it is. How to use it.

Understand the different components of water potential and how to use them. Water potential is the energy required, per quantity of water, to transport an infinitesimal quantity of water from the sample to a reference pool of pure free water.

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What is soil moisture? The science behind the measurement

Most people look at soil moisture only in terms of one variable—water content. But two types of variables are required to describe the state of water in the soil.

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Why soil moisture sensors can’t tell you everything you need to know

Accurate, inexpensive soil moisture sensors make soil VWC a justifiably popular measurement, but is it the right measurement for your application?

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Soil moisture release curves—What they are. Why you need them. How to use them.

Soil moisture release curves are powerful tools used to predict plant water uptake, deep drainage, runoff, and more.

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Soil moisture sensor: Which soil sensor is perfect for you?

Among the thousands of peer-reviewed publications using METER soil sensors, no type emerges as the favorite. Thus sensor choice should be based on your needs and application. Use these considerations to help identify the perfect sensor for your research.

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Soil moisture sensors—How they work. Why some are not research grade

TDR, FDR, capacitance, resistance: A comparison of common soil moisture sensing methods, their pros and cons, and their unique applications.

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Soil moisture: ECH2O vs. TEROS—which is better?

See how the new TEROS soil moisture sensor line compares with METER's trusted ECH2O sensor line.

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Lab vs. field instruments—why you should use both

Lab and field instruments used together can provide researchers a symphony of information and can be used as powerful tools in understanding data and predicting a soil’s behavior over time.

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Weather monitoring system comparison: Which is right for you?

A comparison of common weather monitoring methods, pros and cons, and which technology might apply to different types of field research.

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How to model plant available water

Dr. Gaylon Campbell, world-renowned soil physicist, teaches what you need to know for simple models of soil water processes.

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Calibration and evaluation of the low-cost EC-5 soil moisture sensor

Irrigation scheduling in agriculture and turf requires a soil moisture sensor that is accurate, reliable, and low-cost. Many sensors are limited because they fall short in one of these areas. Until now.

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How to measure hydraulic conductivity—which method is right for you?

Hydraulic conductivity—What it is, how to measure it, and pros/cons of common methods.

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Thermal resistivity: Real RHO values for the professional power engineer

Understanding a soil’s thermal stability can help power engineers more accurately design power distribution systems to prevent thermal runaway.

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Publish more. Work less. Why ZENTRA system cuts research time in half

ZENTRA is a complete system of instruments, sensors, loggers, and software that are easily deployed, require little maintenance, and put near-real-time data at your fingertips.

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Field saturated hydraulic conductivity—why is it so difficult?

Inaccurate saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) measurements are common due to errors in soil-specific alpha estimation and inadequate three-dimensional flow buffering.

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Why you need ZENTRA Cloud and how to get started

As a researcher, you need to optimize funding and maximize peer-reviewed paper output. ZENTRA Cloud’s powerful data management software makes it easier to succeed at both.

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Thermal properties: Why the transient line heat source method outperforms other techniques

There’s no way to measure the properties of moist, porous materials with the steady state method (guarded hot plate). The transient line heat source method, however, is able to measure the thermal properties of moist, porous materials, and it can even measure thermal conductivity and thermal resistivity in fluids.

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Why measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)?

Researchers can use information about different plants' abilities to intercept and use PAR to engineer canopy structure modifications that significantly improve crop yield.

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Why painting and calibrating your leaf wetness sensor won’t work

At all times when the relative humidity of the sensor surface (RHs) is above 90%, a false positive is registered by painted leaf wetness sensors.

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Why underground power cable installations need soil thermal resistivity measurements

Soil physics is increasingly critical in the design and implementation of underground power transmission and distribution systems.

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Data logger compatibility tables

Search the following tables to find out which data loggers are compatible with various types of METER sensors.

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