HASTE PORTÁTIL PARA UTILIZAÇÃO DE SONDAS DE TDR EM ENSAIOS DE CAMPO

Abstract

The Reflectometry Time Domain (TDR) has contributed to research on irrigated agriculture for easy production, acquisition and data storage for soil water content and electrical conductivity estimation. However, it's rarely used in field research involving its use in large areas or in experimental designs employing geostatistical, mainly due to its high cost and operation difficulties. Therefore, the objective of this work was to build a portable prototype to improve water content and electrical conductivity monitoring in the field with TDR probes based on the GPS equipment Portable Water Content Sensor developed at Utah State University. The first prototype developed in Brazil by the Laboratory of Hydraulics and Irrigation of FEAGRI/UNICAMP in partnership with CCA/UFSCaris being used in field. The results showed that portable stem for a TDR probe presented good performance in the field, and can replace a large quantity of coaxial cables and TDR probe. The portable stem will permit the utilization of the TDR in large areas and number of samples, being a good tool for irrigation management and geostatistical studies in precision agriculture.