ARS | Publication request: Soil water sensing for water balance, ET and WUE

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: November 7, 2010
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The soil water balance can be solved for evapotranspiration (ET) using data from either weighing lysimetry or soil water sensing and measurement. Weighing lysimeters are expensive and, although accurate, are difficult to manage and afford little replication. Direct soil water measurement by coring is accurate enough, but plagued by spatial variability that induces unwanted variability in the change in soil water storage between dates, and is destructive. The talk will focus on soil water sensing using the neutron probe and various electromagnetic sensors (capacitance and quasi-TDR); the relative levels of uncertainty in profile water content, change in soil water storage, and estimates of deep flux; and their impact on estimated ET and water use efficiency (WUE).