Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us
  • Follow SWCS on Twitter
  • Visit SWCS on Facebook
Book ReviewA Section

Field Estimation of Soil Water Content: A review

Warren J. Busscher
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation July 2009, 64 (4) 116A; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.64.4.116A
Warren J. Busscher
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Excerpt

Field Estimation of Soil Water Content delves into the workings of a number of devices that measure soil water content (generally volumetric). Though the authors realize that instruments are often purchased based on convenience or economics, they aimed the book as a guide to help readers find the soil water measuring devices that perform best under given circumstances and to give readers information on how to use the devices. The most accurate, although destructive, form of measurement is physical sampling. Using that as the baseline, the authors listed several conclusions about less invasive measurement techniques. Their conclusions can be briefly listed as follows: all sensors must be field calibrated (with the possible exception of time domain reflectrometry [TDR]); the field-calibrated neutron moisture meter (NMM) is the most accurate and precise indirect form of measurement; electromagnetic sensors are too sensitive to nonwater related variability in the field; all sensors are too inaccurate, too costly, or too difficult to use for on-farm scheduling (with the possible exception of tensiometers or granular matrix resistance sensors); NMM, TDR, and physical measurements are the only methods accurate enough for research; and more research is needed to overcome device limitations.

Though the conclusions above seem definitive,…

Footnotes

  • Warren J. Busscher is a soil scientist at the Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center, Florence, South Carolina.

  • © 2009 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 64 (4)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 64, Issue 4
July/August 2009
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Field Estimation of Soil Water Content: A review
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
19 + 0 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Field Estimation of Soil Water Content: A review
Warren J. Busscher
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Jul 2009, 64 (4) 116A; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.64.4.116A

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Field Estimation of Soil Water Content: A review
Warren J. Busscher
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Jul 2009, 64 (4) 116A; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.64.4.116A
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

A Section

  • How much grass will grow on your rangelands this year? Grass-Cast sheds light on the question!
  • Increasing agricultural conservation outreach through social science
  • Forest management and biochar for continued ecosystem services
Show more A Section

Book Review

  • Pathways for Getting to Better Water Quality: The Citizen Effect—A review
  • Soil and Water Conservation Advances in the United States: A review
  • Adaptive management: Learning the path of resilience
Show more Book Review

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Early Online
  • Archive
  • Subject Collections

Info For

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Advertisers

Customer Service

  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions and Reprints
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

SWCS

  • Membership
  • Publications
  • Meetings and Events
  • Conservation Career Center

© 2022 Soil and Water Conservation Society