Evaluating the Accuracy of Some Field Methods for Measurement of Soil Moisture

Soil water is an important factor in the growth of the plant. There are different methods for soil moisture estimation. It is time-consuming to obtain volumetric soil moisture in a laboratory. This study was performed to evaluate estimate of soil moisture by different in situ methods including the electrical resistance of Werner electrode arrangement and ground penetration radar (GPR) from 700 MHz antenna, and two humidity sensors, namely, thetaml2 and sm300. These were used in 72 soil samples with different textures (loam, sandy clay loam and silty loam, silty clay, silty clay loam, clay loam) in parts of Shahrekord Watershed.The results showed that the coefficient of correlation between soil moisture and electrical resistance was 0.85. Also, the correlation coefficient between the values obtained from subsurface radar method, sm300 sensor and thetaml2 with the results obtained from laboratory measurements were 0.86, 0.94, 0.86, with CRM index values of -0.52, -0.75 and –1.22. By comparing the results of electrical resistivity, moisture from the GPR and the sm300 and thetaml2 sensors with volumetric moisture, the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values were 8.41, 4, 5.3 and 8.6; and RRMSE were 10, 31, 29, and 26, respectively. Duncan test of moisture content showed that the difference between the sensors and the laboratory moisture content was significant at 5% level (p<0.05). According to the value of RRMSE All sensors had a good estimate of soil moisture. In conclusion, electrical resistivity and GPR method, due to higher sampling density, could be used as a rapid, cost effective, and non-destructive technique to estimate profile of soil water content at scales of field to sub-watershed.