[1] Soil moisture measurements are essential to understand land surface-atmosphere interactions. In this paper we evaluate the performance of the low-cost 10HS capacitance sensor (Decagon Devices, United States) using laboratory and field measurements. Measurements with 10HS sensors of volumetric water content (VWC, Vol.%), integrated absolute soil moisture (millimeters) over the measured soil column, and the loss of soil moisture (millimeters) for rainless days are compared with corresponding measurements from gravimetric samples and time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensors. The field measurements were performed at two sites with different soil texture in Switzerland, and they cover more than a year of parallel measurements in several depths down to 120 cm. For low VWC, both sensor types present good agreement for laboratory and field measurements. Nevertheless, the measurement accuracy of the 10HS sensor reading (millivolts) considerably decreases with increasing VWC: the 10HS sensors tend to become insensitive to variations of VWC above 40 Vol.%. The field measurements reveal a soil type dependency of the 10HS sensor performance, and thus limited applicability of laboratory calibrations. However, with site-specific exponential calibration functions derived from parallel 10HS and TDR measurements, the error of the 10HS compared to the TDR measurements can be decreased for soil moisture contents up to 30 Vol.%, and the day-to-day variability of soil moisture is captured. We conclude that the 10HS sensor is appropriate for setting up dense soil moisture networks when focusing on medium to low VWC and using an established site-specific calibration function. This measurement range is appropriate for several applications in climate research, but the identified performance limitations should be considered in investigations focusing on humid conditions and absolute soil moisture.
The mechanical behaviour of granular materials depends on their grading. Crushing of particles under compression or shear modifies the grain size distribution, with a tendency for the percentage of fine material to increase. It follows that the frictional properties of the material and the critical states are modified as a consequence of the changes in grain size distribution and the available range of packing densities. This paper illustrates an extended experimental investigation of the evolution of the grading of an artificial granular material, consisting of crushed expanded clay pellets under different loading conditions. The changes of grading of the material after isotropic, one-dimensional and constant mean effective stress triaxial compression were described using a single parameter based on the ratio of the areas under the current and an ultimate cumulative particle size distribution, which were both assumed to be consistent with self similar grading with varying fractal dimension. Relative breakage was related to the total work input for unit of volume. For poorly graded samples, the observed maximum rate of breakage is practically independent of initial uniformity. Further
A laboratory investigation is presented for undisturbed samples of a silty sand under saturated conditions. The soil was sampled from test pits south of Rüdlingen in North-East Switzerland, where a landslide triggering experiment was carried out on a steep forest slope. The aim of the work was to characterise the behaviour of the soil in triaxial tests, in the light of the possible failure mechanisms of the slope. Conventional drained and undrained triaxial tests were conducted to detect critical state conditions as well as peak shear strength as a function of confining pressure. Soil specimens were also exposed to stress paths simulating in situ water pressure increase to study the stress-strain response and to enhance the ability to predict failure conditions more accurately in the future. Possible unstable response along the stress paths analysed was investigated by means of second order work and strain acceleration. The results show that temporary unstable conditions may be encountered for this soil at stress ratios below ultimate failure and even below critical state line, depending on void ratio, drainage conditions and time dependent compressibility. A modified state parameter is explored as a potentially useful tool to discriminate conditions leading to eventual collapse.
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