Field Calibration of TDR to Assess the Soil Moisture of Drained Peatland Surface Layers

The proper monitoring of soil moisture content is important to understand water-related processes in peatland ecosystems. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a popular method used for soil moisture content measurements, the applicability of which is still challenging in field studies due to requireme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWater (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 1842
Main Authors Gnatowski, Tomasz, Szatyłowicz, Jan, Pawluśkiewicz, Bogumiła, Oleszczuk, Ryszard, Janicka, Maria, Papierowska, Ewa, Szejba, Daniel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 13.12.2018
Subjects
Biodiversity
bioindices of habitats
broken-line model
Calibration
Carbon
degraded peat soils
Dielectric constant
Dielectric properties
Ecosystems
Environmental monitoring
Flowers & plants
Hydrologic cycle
Hydrology
Laboratories
Literature reviews
Measurement techniques
Moisture content
Peatlands
Permittivity
Plant species
Slopes
Soil moisture
Soil sciences
Surface layers
TDR calibration curve
Water content
Europe
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Summary:The proper monitoring of soil moisture content is important to understand water-related processes in peatland ecosystems. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a popular method used for soil moisture content measurements, the applicability of which is still challenging in field studies due to requirements regarding the calibration curve which converts the dielectric constant into the soil moisture content. The main objective of this study was to develop a general calibration equation for the TDR method based on simultaneous field measurements of the dielectric constant and gravimetric water content in the surface layers of degraded peatlands. Data were collected during field campaigns conducted temporarily between the years 2006 and 2016 at the drained peatland Kuwasy located in the north-east area of Poland. Based on the data analysis, a two-slopes linear calibration equation was developed as a general broken-line model (GBLM). A site-specific calibration model (SSM-D) for the TDR method was obtained in the form of a two-slopes equation describing the relationship between the soil moisture content and the dielectric constant and introducing the bioindices as covariates relating to plant species biodiversity and the state of the habitats. The root mean squared error for the GBLM and SSM-D models were equal, respectively, at 0.04 and 0.035 cm3 cm−3.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w10121842