Soil Moisture Testing
The Fieldscout is the latest soil moisture probe that accurately measures volumetric soil moisture in a wide variety of soils. The hand held instrument is inserted into the soil and an electronic pulse is sent along probes called waveguides. The high energy electronic pulses pass through the soil and are then read by the instrument to determine moisture content.
This instrument uses a principle called Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR), which is suitable for all soils from sand to clay. TDR uses a dielectric principle to distinguish water from soil to give the most accurate soil moisture readings possible.
Trained ENSPEC operators can accurately measure soil moisture in root zones to determine irrigation needs or drought stress in trees, and to check if the moisture levels are within optimum levels. The instrument has applications for locating water logged areas as well as drought stressed areas.
