Moisture Mapping Soil and Plant Moisture Monitoring

How do you monitor moisture in soil?

Moisture mapping is a technique used to create a visual representation of soil moisture levels. A multitude of devices are available for monitoring moisture, including tensiometers, moisture probes, and neutron probes.

Tensiometers

• Measure the soil water potential, an indicator of how tightly water is held by the soil, which is related to soil moisture content.

Moisture Probes

• Measure the dielectric constant of the soil, which changes with soil moisture content.
• Generally less expensive than tensiometers.

Neutron Probes

• Measure the amount of hydrogen in the soil, which is related to soil moisture content.
• Provide an average soil moisture value over a larger volume of soil compared to tensiometers and moisture probes.