Abstract
Soil moisture porous matrix sensors may be good alternatives to tensiometers for measuring soil–water matric potential (SMP) for irrigation scheduling based on soil–water status approaches. The objective of this paper is to present and evaluate a new porous matrix sensor (IGstat) for detecting specific SMP thresholds for possible application in irrigation scheduling regulated by the SMP threshold concept. The IGstat sensor uses a non-sintered, glass bead microspheres (microGB) core and an outer ceramic cup, having larger air bubbling pressure (BP), to establish hydraulic contact with the soil. Pneumatic, optical, or electrical properties of the microGB porous medium can be then measured to infer the SMP. This paper describes and evaluates the performance of IGstat sensors for SMP threshold detection, using the pneumatic mode with a small air flow applied and air pressure monitored in the sensor tubing. Five IGstat sensors were built with different microGB diameters (15–125 µm) having air BP varying from 6 to 40 kPa. A power function was fitted to the data, which can be used to select microGB diameters to build IGstat sensors of required air BP. The experimental setup proposed to determine the sensor BP by incremental air injection provided air BP values in good agreement with those observed in a soil evaporation experiment (average relative error of 7.6%). The sensor responses in soil, with a small air pressure applied to them, showed a sharp pressure decreases when the SMP approached the sensor air BP, decreasing to about zero for SMP equal to the sensor air BP. The proposed sensors and approach showed potential for irrigation scheduling.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
References
Assouline S, Or D (2008) Air entry-based characteristic length for estimation of permeability of variably compacted earth materials. Water Resour Res 44:W11403. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008WR006937
Bianchi A, Masseroni D, Thalheimer M, Medici LO, Facchi A (2017) Field irrigation management through soil water potential measurements: a review. Ital J Agrometeorol 2:25–38. https://doi.org/10.19199/2017.2.2038-5625.025
AG Calbo CMP Vaz WA Marouelli LF Porto 2013 Water tension sensor, system for characterizing and continuously measuring soil water system for indicating critical soil water tension and irrigation rod Patent Number: WO 2014172765 A1 2.
Campbell GS, Campbell MD (1982) Irrigation scheduling using soil moisture measurements: theory and practice. Adv Irrig 1:25–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-024301-3.50008-3
Contreras JI, Alonso F, Cánovas G, Baeza R (2017) Irrigation management of greenhouse zucchini with different soil matric potential level. Agronomic and environmental effects. Agric Water Manag 183:26–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.09.025
Flint AL, Campbell GS, Ellett KM, Calissendorff C (2002) Calibration and temperature correction of heat dissipation matric potential sensors. Soil Sci Soc Am J 66:1439–1445. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2002.1439
Ganjegunte GK, Sheng Z, Clark JA (2012) Evaluating the accuracy of soil water sensors for irrigation scheduling to conserve freshwater. Appl Water Sci 2:119–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-012-0032-7
Geistlinger H, Krauss G, Lazik D, Luckner L (2006) Direct gas injection into saturated glass beads: transition from incoherent to coherent gas flow pattern. Water Resour Res 42:W07403. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004451
Gendron L, Létourneau G, Anderson L, Sauvageau G, Depardieu C, Paddock E, van den Hout A, Levallois R, Daugovish O, Solis SS, Caron J (2018) Real-time irrigation: cost-effectiveness and benefits for water use and productivity of strawberries. Sci Hortic 240:468–477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2018.06.013
Gu Z, Qi Z, Burghate R, Yuan S, Jiao X, Xu J (2020) Irrigation scheduling approaches and applications: a review. J Irrig Drain Eng 146(6):04020007. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001464
Gupta SC, Larson WE (1979) A model for predicting packing density of soils using particle-size distributions. Soil Sci Soc Am J 43:758–764. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1979.03615995004300040028x
Jabro JD, Stevens WB, Iversen WM, Allen BL, Sainju UM (2020) Irrigation scheduling based on wireless sensors output and soil-water characteristic curve in two soils. Sensors 20:1336. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051336
Liu H, Yin C, Gao Z, Hou L (2021) Evaluation of cucumber yield, economic benefit and water productivity under different soil matric potentials in solar greenhouses in north China. Agric Water Manag 243:106442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106442
MacMullin RB, Muccini GA (1956) Characteristics of porous beds and structures. AIChE J 2(3):393–403. https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.690020320
Malazian A, Hartsough P, Kamai T, Campbell GS, Cobos DR, Hopmans JW (2011) Evaluation of MPS-1 soil water potential sensor. J Hydrol 402:126–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.03.006
Matteau JP, Célicourt P, Létourneau G, Gumiere T, Gumiere SJ (2021a) Potato varieties response to soil matric potential based irrigation. Agronomy 11:352. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020352
Matteau JP, Célicourt P, Létourneau G, Gumiere T, Gumiere SJ (2021b) Potato varieties response to soil matric potential based irrigation. Agronomy 11:352. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020352
Müller T, Bouleaua C, Perona P (2016) Optimizing drip irrigation for eggplant crops in semi-arid zones using evolving thresholds. Agric Water Manag 177:54–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.06.019
Naime JM, Vaz CMP, Macedo A (2001) Automated soil particle analyzer based on gamma ray attenuation. Comput Electron Agric 31:295–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1699(00)00188-5
Nikolaou G, Neocleous D, Christou A, Kitta E, Katsoulas N (2020) Implementing sustainable irrigation in water-scarce regions under the impact of climate change. Agronomy 10:1120. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081120
Nolz R, Cepuder P, Balas J, Loiskandl W (2016) Soil water monitoring in a vineyard and assessment of unsaturated hydraulic parameters as thresholds for irrigation management. Agric Water Manag 164:235–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2015.10.030
Osroosh Y, Peters RT, Campbell CS, Zhang Q (2016) Comparison of irrigation automation algorithms for drip-irrigated apple trees. Comput Electron Agric 128:87–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2016.08.013
Taylor SA (1965) Managing irrigation water on the farm. Trans ASAE 8:433–436
Thomas LK, Katz DL, Tek MR (1968) Threshold pressure phenomena in porous media. Soc Pet Eng J 8:174–184. https://doi.org/10.2118/1816-PA
Thompson RB, Gallardo M, Valdez LC, Fernandez MD (2007) Using plant water status to define threshold values for irrigation management of vegetable crops using soil moisture sensors. Agric Water Manag 88:147–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2006.10.007
van Genuchten MT (1980) A closed form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44:892–898. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1980.03615995004400050002x
Wang FX, Kang Y, Liu SP, Hou XY (2007) Effects of soil matric potential on potato growth under drip irrigation in the north China plain. Agric Water Manag 88:34–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2006.08.006
Whalley WR, Ober ES, Jenkins M (2013) Measurement of the matric potential of soil water in the rhizosphere. J Exp Bot 64(13):3951–3963. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ert044
Wraith JM, Or D (1998) Nonlinear parameter estimation using spreadsheet software. J Nat Resour Life Sci Educ 27:13–19. https://doi.org/10.2134/jnrlse.1998.0013
Yokoyama T, Takeuchi S (2009) Porosimetry of vesicular volcanic products by a water-expulsion method and the relationship of pore characteristics to permeability. J Geophys Res Atmos 114:B02201. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB005758
Acknowledgements
The authors thank FAPESP (2020/16179-3), EMBRAPA (30.21.90.041) for the financial support and Renê de Oste and José Ferrazini Júnior for the mechanic, hydraulic, and electronic support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
We declare that there are no financial, personal, and institutional conflicts of interest with the information and results presented in the article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vaz, C.M.P., Porto, L.F., D´Alkaine, C.I. et al. Design and characterization of a pneumatic micro glass beads matrix sensor for soil water potential threshold control in irrigation management. Irrig Sci 40, 397–405 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00791-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00791-1