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Evaluation of DualEM-II sensor for soil moisture content estimation in the potato fields of Atlantic Canada

Authors :
Aitazaz A. Farooque
Mahnaz Zare
Farhat Abbas
Qamar Zaman
Melanie Bos
Travis Esau
Bishnu Acharya
Arnold W. Schumann
Source :
Plant, Soil and Environment, Vol 65, Iss 6, Pp 290-297 (2019)
Publication Year :
2019
Publisher :
Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 2019.

Abstract

The conventional gravimetric methods of estimating soil moisture content (θ) are laborious, time-consuming, and destructive to agricultural fields. We evaluated the performance of DualEM-II sensor in non-destructive way of θ prediction and for predicting θ variations within potato fields in Atlantic Canada. Values of θ were measured from four potato fields in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island using a pre-calibrated (R2 = 0.98) time domain reflectometry (TDR) from root zone of potato tubers under grid sampling arrangements. Horizontal co-planar (HCP) and perpendicular co-planar (PRP) readings were taken using DualEM-II sensor from the same locations of θ measurements. There was a better correlation between PRP and θ (r: 0.64-0.83) was calculated than between HCP and θ (r: 0.41-0.79). There was no significant difference (R2: 0.60-0.69; RMSE (root mean square error): 2.32-4.02) between the θ values measured with TDR (θM) and those predicted with DualEM-II (θP) confirming that the use of electromagnetic induction technique, evaluated during this study, is labor saving, quick, non-destructive, and accurate and can be considered a precision agriculture tool for efficiently managing soil water in potato fields.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
12141178 and 18059368
Volume :
65
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Plant, Soil and Environment
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b626d479e0af4054a629ca69fe751114
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.17221/72/2019-PSE