Determining Soil Moisture for Irrigation Management

Abstract

One key component in good irrigation management is the measurement of soil moisture to help determine when to irrigate. In this study, resistance blocks and tensiometers were compared to neutron probe readings to assess how well these devices followed soil moisture and whether the resistance blocks and /or tensiometers could be used to schedule irrigation in cotton production. The resistance blocks were placed at 6, 18, and 30 inches. Tensiometers were placed at 18 and 30 inches. The readings from the resistance blocks and tensiometers were compared to neutron probe readings taken at 6, 18, and 30 inches. The resistance blocks compared well with the neutron probe readings at the 6 inch and 30 inch depth. At the 18 inch depth, there was much scatter in the data. The tensiometers also showed good comparisons at 30 inches and poor comparisons at 18 inches.