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Errors in Determination of the Water Content of a Trickle Irrigated Soil Volume¹

ABSTRACT

A short review of the possible methods of measuring soil water content under high frequency trickle irrigation suggested that the gravimetric method was most appropriate. Three sources of errors in this method have been evaluated and discussed. The sources are those of water content by weight, bulk density, and integration based on the sampling grid. Furthermore, as the sampling mesh became coarser the results became unstable because the differences in volume of water became larger than the defined standard deviation (SD). Error analysis of measurements on uniform Bet Dagan grumusol and sandy soils of Nahal Sinai (Israel) and Yuma (Arizona) showed that coefficient of variation in volume of water within an irrigated volume element may be reduced if the sampling grid is taken properly. The analysis suggests that for a given coefficient of variation and interval of sampling depth, an optimum distance between lateral samples can be evaluated from a mathematical reorganization of the coefficient of variation.

¹ Support was from funds provided by the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Technology as authorized under the Water Resources Act, 1964. Project B 035-Ariz and B-045 Ariz.

² Soil Scientist, the Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva. Formerly on leave with W.R.R.C. University of Arizona, Tucson.

Received for publication May 26, 1978. Accepted for publication March 18, 1979.

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