A practical approach to determine the temperature correction for EC-5 moisture sensors embedded in Vertosol

Abstract

Expansive soils are predominant in arid and semi-arid regions, and they are highly moisture sensitive. The investigation of the climate-ground interaction of expansive soils is extremely important to understand the hydro-mechanical responses of such soils. During the past decade, the low cost and simple methods to reliably monitor the soil volumetric water content have been popular among geotechnical practitioners. As a result, EC-5 moisture sensors have been widely used in agricultural and scientific projects due to the minimized salinity and textural effects on the final volumetric water content readings. The changes in soil volumetric water content profile can be effectively monitored using soil-specifically calibrated EC-5 sensors. However, due to the temperature sensitivity of EC-5 sensors, a suitable correction factor is essential to determine the actual volumetric water content of the expansive soil. In this study, the authors present a practical and straightforward approach to calibrate EC-5 sensors incorporating the temperature effect. This simple calibration approach enhances the accuracy of the EC-5 moisture profiling and eventually leads to safe decision-making of geotechnical practitioners.