Field Performance of Nine Soil Water Content Sensors on a Sandy Loam Soil in New Brunswick, Maritime Region, Canada

doi:10.3390/s91109398

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Sensors 2009, 9(11), 9398-9413; doi:10.3390/s91109398

Article

Field Performance of Nine Soil Water Content Sensors on a Sandy Loam Soil in New Brunswick, Maritime Region, Canada

Lien Chow¹, Zisheng Xing^1,* , Herb W. Rees¹, Fanrui Meng², John Monteith¹ and Lionel Stevens¹

¹ Potato Research Centre, 850 Lincoln Road, P.O. Box 20280. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada ² Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 27 October 2009; in revised form: 10 November 2009 / Accepted: 16 November 2009 / Published: 24 November 2009

(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)

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Abstract: An in situ field test on nine commonly-used soil water sensors was carried out in a sandy loam soil located in the Potato Research Center, Fredericton, NB (Canada) using the gravimetric method as a reference. The results showed that among the tested sensors, regardless of installation depths and soil water regimes, CS615, Trase, and Troxler performed the best with the factory calibrations, with a relative root mean square error (RRMSE) of 15.78, 16.93, and 17.65%, and a r² of 0.75, 0.77, and 0.65, respectively. TRIME, Moisture Point (MP917), and Gopher performed slightly worse with the factory calibrations, with a RRMSE of 45.76, 26.57, and 20.41%, and a r² of 0.65, 0.72, and 0.78, respectively, while the Gypsum, WaterMark, and Netafim showed a frequent need for calibration in the application in this region.

Keywords: sensor performance; soil water content sensor; statistical analysis

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Chow, L.; Xing, Z.; Rees, H.W.; Meng, F.; Monteith, J.; Stevens, L. Field Performance of Nine Soil Water Content Sensors on a Sandy Loam Soil in New Brunswick, Maritime Region, Canada. Sensors 2009, 9, 9398-9413.

AMA Style

Chow L., Xing Z., Rees H.W., Meng F., Monteith J., Stevens L. Field Performance of Nine Soil Water Content Sensors on a Sandy Loam Soil in New Brunswick, Maritime Region, Canada. Sensors. 2009; 9(11):9398-9413.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chow, Lien; Xing, Zisheng; Rees, Herb W.; Meng, Fanrui; Monteith, John; Stevens, Lionel. 2009. "Field Performance of Nine Soil Water Content Sensors on a Sandy Loam Soil in New Brunswick, Maritime Region, Canada." Sensors 9, no. 11: 9398-9413.

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