A Review of Advances in Dielectric and Electrical Conductivity Measurement in Soils Using Time Domain Reflectometry

Substantial advances in the measurement of water content and bulk soil electrical conductivity (EC) using time domain reflectometry (TDR) have been made in the last two decades. The key to TDR's success is its ability to accurately measure the permittivity of a material and the fact that there is a good relationship between the permittivity of a material and its water content. A further advantage is the ability to estimate water content and measure bulk soil EC simultaneously using TDR. The aim of this review is to summarize and examine advances that have been made in terms of measuring permittivity and bulk EC. The review examines issues such as the effective frequency of the TDR measurement and waveform…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture

  Awards: 2001‐35107‐11009, 2002‐35107‐12507
• US
  United States - Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund