Tensiometers are commonly used for measuring soil water matric pressures. Unfortunately, the water-filled reservoir of conventional tensiometers limits their applicability to soil water matric pressures above approximately 20.085 MPa. Tensiometers filled with a polymer solution instead of water are able to measure a larger range of soil water matric pressures. We designed and constructed six prototype polymer tensiometers (previously called osmotic tensiometers) consisting of a wide-range pressure transducer with a temperature sensor, a stainless steel casing, and a ceramic plate with a membrane preventing polymer leakage. A polymer chamber (0.1-2.2 cm 3 ) was located between the pressure transducer and the plate. We tested the polymer tensiometers for long-term operation, the effects of temperature, response times, and performance in a repacked sandy loam under laboratory conditions. Several months of continuous operation caused a gradual drop in the osmotic pressure, for which we developed a suitable correction. The osmotic potential of polymer solutions is temperature dependent, and requires calibration before installation. The response times to sudden and gradual changes in ambient temperature were found to be affected by polymer chamber height and polymer type. Practically useful response times (,0.2 d) are feasible, particularly for chambers shorter than 0.20 cm. We demonstrated the ability of the instrument to measure the range of soil water pressures in which plant roots are able to take up water (from 0 to 21.6 MPa), to regain pressure without user interference and to function properly for time periods of up to 1 yr.

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In many regions of the world, plant growth and productivity are limited by water deficits. As a result of more frequent and intense droughts, the area of land characterized as very dry has more than doubled since the 1970s. Consequently, understanding root water uptake under water‐stressed conditions is gaining importance. The performance of a recently developed polymer tensiometer (POT) designed to measure matric potentials down to −1.6 MPa was evaluated and compared with volumetric moisture content measurements in dry soil. Three irrigation intensities created severe, intermediate, and no water stress conditions in lysimeters with growing maize (Zea mays L.) plants. By monitoring matric potentials using POTs, levels of local water stress in our experiments were better defined. When the defined stress levels were reached, volumetric moisture measurements for this particular loam soil were below 0.1, thus less informative compared with matric potential measurements. The observed matric potential profiles indicate significant root water uptake between 0.3‐ and 0.5‐m depth in the later growth stages under water‐stressed conditions. The temporal pattern of matric potential profiles reflected changing root water uptake behavior under dry conditions. As the total soil water potential is a direct indication of the amount of energy required by plants to take up water, POTs may contribute to quantifying root water uptake in dry soils.

Abstract. Measuring soil water potentials is crucial to characterize vadose zone processes. Conventional tensiometers only measure until approximately −0.09 MPa, and indirect methods may suffer from the non-uniqueness in the relationship between matric potential and measured properties. Recently developed polymer tensiometers (POTs) are able to directly measure soil matric potentials until the theoretical wilting point (−1.6 MPa). By minimizing the volume of polymer solution inside the POT while maximizing the ceramic area in contact with that polymer solution, response times drop to acceptable ranges for laboratory and field conditions. Contact with the soil is drastically improved with the use of coneshaped solid ceramics instead of flat ceramics. The comparison between measured potentials by polymer tensiometers and indirectly obtained potentials with time domain reflectometry highlights the risk of using the latter method at low water contents. By combining POT and time domain reflectometry readings in situ moisture retention curves can be measured over the range permitted by the measurement range of both POT and time domain reflectometry.

Data on soil hydraulic properties are needed as input for many models, such as models to predict unsaturated water movement and crop growth, and models to predict leaching of nutrients and pesticides to groundwater. The soil physics database of the Netherlands shows several lacunae, and a substantial part of the data were collected more than thirty years ago and thus might not represent actual soil hydraulic conditions. There is a need to fill lacunae in the soil physics dataset, to make the dataset up-to-date and to aggregate soil hydraulic properties observed at point scale to larger spatial units. The relationship between the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity K or the volumetric water content θ and the pressure head h can be described for example by equations such as the Mualem-Van Genuchten equations, the parameter values of which can be predicted from soil properties by using pedo-transfer functions. These soil properties include clay content, loam content, organic matter content and the median grain diameter of the sand fraction (50-2000 µm). Application of proximal sensing techniques in observing soil physics properties in the field might reduce the costs of data collection. The accuracy with which proximal sensing techniques can predict clay content, loam content, organic matter content and the median grain size of the sand fraction (50-2000 µm) needs to be assessed as these are the explanatory variables in the pedo-transfer functions. The aim of this study was to select on-the-go proximal sensing techniques that are able to quantify soil variables that are used in the pedo-transfer functions for prediction of the parameters of the Mualem-Van Genuchten equations. We conclude that near infrared spectrometry, γ-ray spectroscopy and electromagnetic induction methods have a potential in spatial prediction of clay, silt and sand content, and that near infrared spectrometry has a potential in spatial prediction of organic matter content and soil moisture content. The use of pedo-transfer functions requires also the parameters bulk density and median of the sand fraction (M50). Bulk density can be measured by a device called RhoC. However, its performance in predicting bulk density of terrestrial soils has not been validated yet. Most instruments are applied to measure fractions clay, silt and sand. The application of these instruments in the determination of M50 needs to be developed. Possibly the combination of specific surface area and fractions of fine and course sand can give an indication. On the other hand new pedo-transfer functions can be developed neglecting the M50 value while increasing the contribution of other explanatory variables.