Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography. Using various analytical methods and scientific techniques, they collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems such as environmental preservation, natural disasters, and water management.
A time-domain reflectometer (TDR) is an electronic instrument used to determine the characteristics of electrical lines by observing reflected pulses.
Irrigation scheduling is the process used by irrigation system managers to determine the correct frequency and duration of watering.
Water potential is the potential energy of water per unit volume relative to pure water in reference conditions. Water potential quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to another due to osmosis, gravity, mechanical pressure and matrix effects such as capillary action. The concept of water potential has proved useful in understanding and computing water movement within plants, animals, and soil. Water potential is typically expressed in potential energy per unit volume and very often is represented by the Greek letter ψ.
A neutron probe is a device used to measure the quantity of water present in soil.
Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such as soil, rock, ceramics, crops, or wood. Water content is used in a wide range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed as a ratio, which can range from 0 to the value of the materials' porosity at saturation. It can be given on a volumetric or mass (gravimetric) basis.
Soil physics is the study of soil's physical properties and processes. It is applied to management and prediction under natural and managed ecosystems. Soil physics deals with the dynamics of physical soil components and their phases as solids, liquids, and gases. It draws on the principles of physics, physical chemistry, engineering, and meteorology. Soil physics applies these principles to address practical problems of agriculture, ecology, and engineering.
Level sensors detect the level of liquids and other fluids and fluidized solids, including slurries, granular materials, and powders that exhibit an upper free surface. Substances that flow become essentially horizontal in their containers because of gravity whereas most bulk solids pile at an angle of repose to a peak. The substance to be measured can be inside a container or can be in its natural form. The level measurement can be either continuous or point values. Continuous level sensors measure level within a specified range and determine the exact amount of substance in a certain place, while point-level sensors only indicate whether the substance is above or below the sensing point. Generally the latter detect levels that are excessively high or low.
The thermal properties of soil are a component of soil physics that has found important uses in engineering, climatology and agriculture. These properties influence how energy is partitioned in the soil profile. While related to soil temperature, it is more accurately associated with the transfer of energy throughout the soil, by radiation, conduction and convection.
Frequency domain (FD) sensor is an instrument developed for measuring soil moisture content. The instrument has an oscillating circuit, the sensing part of the sensor is embedded in the soil, and the operating frequency will depend on the value of soil's dielectric constant.
A leaf sensor is a phytometric device that measures water loss or the water deficit stress (WDS) in plants by real-time monitoring the moisture level in plant leaves. The first leaf sensor was developed by LeafSens, an Israeli company granted a US patent for a mechanical leaf thickness sensing device in 2001. LeafSen has made strides incorporating their leaf sensory technology into citrus orchards in Israel. A solid state smart leaf sensor technology was developed by the University of Colorado at Boulder for NASA in 2007. It was designed to help monitor and control agricultural water demand. AgriHouse received a National Science Foundation (NSF) STTR grant in conjunction with the University of Colorado to further develop the solid state leaf sensor technology for precision irrigation control in 2007.
Capacitance sensors use capacitance to measure the dielectric permittivity of a surrounding medium. The configuration is like the neutron probe where an access tube made of PVC is installed in the soil; probes can also be modular (comb-like) and connected to a logger. The sensing head consists of an oscillator circuit, the frequency is determined by an annular electrode, fringe-effect capacitor, and the dielectric constant of the soil. Each capacitor sensor consists of two metal rings mounted on the circuit board at some distance from the top of the access tube. These rings are a pair of electrodes, which form the plates of the capacitor with the soil acting as the dielectric in between. The plates are connected to an oscillator, consisting of an inductor and a capacitor. The oscillating electrical field is generated between the two rings and extends into the soil medium through the wall of the access tube. The capacitor and the oscillator form a circuit, and changes in dielectric constant of surrounding media are detected by changes in the operating frequency. The capacitance sensors are designed to oscillate in excess of 100 MHz inside the access tube in free air. The output of the sensor is the frequency response of the soil’s capacitance due to its soil moisture level.
Nuclear densitometry is a technique used in civil construction and the petroleum industry, as well as for mining and archaeology purposes, to measure the density and inner structure of the test material. The processes uses a nuclear density gauge, which consists of a radiation source that emits particles and a sensor that counts the received particles that are either reflected by the test material or pass through it. By calculating the percentage of particles that return to the sensor, the gauge can be calibrated to measure the density.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to hydrology:
Capacitive displacement sensors are "non-contact devices capable of high-resolution measurement of the position and/or change of position of any conductive target". They are also able to measure the thickness or density of non-conductive materials. Capacitive displacement sensors are used in a wide variety of applications including semiconductor processing, assembly of precision equipment such as disk drives, precision thickness measurements, machine tool metrology and assembly line testing. These types of sensors can be found in machining and manufacturing facilities around the world.
Leaf wetness is a meteorological parameter that describes the amount of dew and precipitation left on surfaces. It is used for monitoring leaf moisture for agricultural purposes, such as fungus and disease control, for control of irrigation systems, and for detection of fog and dew conditions, and early detection of rainfall.
A tensiometer in soil science is a measuring instrument used to determine the matric water potential in the vadose zone. This device typically consists of a glass or plastic tube with a porous ceramic cup and is filled with water. The top of the tube has either a built-in vacuum gauge or a rubber cap used with a portable puncture tensiometer instrument, which uses a hypodermic needle to measure the pressure inside the tensiometer. The tensiometer is buried in the soil, and a hand pump is used to pull a partial vacuum. As water is pulled out of the soil by plants and evaporation, the vacuum inside the tube increases. When the soil is wetted flow can also occur in the reverse direction: as water is added to the soil, the vacuum inside the tube pulls moisture from the soil and decreases. When the water pressure in the tensiometer is determined to be in equilibrium with the water pressure in the soil, the tensiometer gauge reading represents the matric potential of the soil.
Reflectometry is a general term for the use of the reflection of waves or pulses at surfaces and interfaces to detect or characterize objects, sometimes to detect anomalies as in fault detection and medical diagnosis.
A TDR moisture sensor employs time-domain reflectometry (TDR) to measure moisture content indirectly based on the correlation to electric and dielectric properties of materials, such as soil, agrarian products, snow, wood or concrete.
G. Clarke Topp is a Canadian soil physicist who spent 37 years with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Ottawa. His research focus was to improve field measurement methods for soil-water properties and parameters. His research introduced electromagnetic (EM) technology to soil measurement by way of Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). Topp is recognized for outstanding technical innovation and scientific achievement.
