How to measure water potential
Compare current methods for measuring water potential and the pros and cons of each method.
An ecologist installed an extensive soil moisture sensor network to study the effect of slope orientation on plant available water. He collected reams of soil moisture data, but ultimately he was frustrated because he couldn’t tell how much of the water was available to plants.
He’s not alone in his frustration. Accurate, inexpensive soil moisture sensors have made soil moisture a justifiably popular measurement, but as many people have discovered, a good hammer doesn’t make every soil water problem a nail. Water content can only show how much water there is. Hydraulic conductivity shows how fast water can move. But water potential shows whether it will move and where it’s going to go.
Click on the links below for a comprehensive look at the science behind water potential measurement.
Or want it all in one convenient place?
Download the “Researcher’s complete guide to water potential”
In this webinar, Dr. Doug Cobos differentiates water potential from water content, discusses the theory, application, and key components of water potential: matric potential, osmotic potential, gravitational potential, and pressure potential.
Six short videos teach you everything you need to know about soil water content and soil water potential—and why you should measure them together. Plus, master the basics of soil hydraulic conductivity.
Download “The complete guide to irrigation management”
The following webinars cover water potential instrument theory, including the challenges of measuring water potential and how to choose and use various water potential instruments.
Our scientists have decades of experience helping researchers and growers measure the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.
Compare current methods for measuring water potential and the pros and cons of each method.
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.
Dr. Gaylon Campbell, world-renowned soil physicist, teaches what you need to know for simple models of soil water processes.
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