Electronic soil moisture meter. Scheme, description

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Electronic soil moisture meter. Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering

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Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering / Home, household, hobby

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In dry regions or during a period of drought in the middle zone of our country, artificial irrigation of crops is used. However, sometimes the question arises: how can you quickly determine to what depth the water has penetrated? And in this case, the sound generator will help. It is known that depending on soil moisture, its conductivity changes. This means that by changing the electrical resistance of the soil layer at different depths, one can determine its moisture content. To do this, two sensors are connected to the generator output circuit or to the transistor base circuit (see Fig. 1).

Electronic soil moisture meter
Rice. 1. Soil moisture meter - an archaeologist's companion

Sensors-probes are rod-tubes made of insulating material with a diameter of 15-20 mm. Electrodes are rigidly fixed on the surface of the rods along their axes. These electrodes are made in the form of thin-walled brass or copper tubes and are fixed on rods at some distance from each other. Each probe electrode is connected to switch P1 of the measuring sound generator using one of the wires of the multicore cable. The switch allows you to connect one of the pairs of electrodes to the generator. In this case, each pair of electrodes, and consequently, each position 1-6 of switch P1 corresponds to a certain depth of the soil layer.

After inserting the sensors into the ground, as shown in the figure, they switch the electrodes and, by changing the volume or frequency of the sound heard in the headphones, they make a conclusion about the depth of irrigation and soil moisture. For the convenience of determining the depth of the electrode in the soil, these depth values can be noted on the scale of switch P1.

The value (sensor) of the probes is selected practically. Also, practically, depending on the specifics of the measurements, the number of electrodes is selected, their length is determined and the distance between the probes is selected. Of course, our device makes it possible to draw only approximate conclusions, but after acquiring practical skills, the determinations will be more accurate.

The design of the device can be somewhat complicated by replacing the headphones with a sensitive electric bridge with a pointer device. Such a more accurate device can be used for construction and survey purposes and during archaeological excavations. It will help to detect large heterogeneities or objects located in the surface layer of the soil, since such objects will change the soil resistance at their corresponding depth.

Author: Verkhalo Yu.N.

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