Hydraulic weighing lysimeters have been widely used and improved to minimize operational problems, and provide good accuracy for detection of changes in soil water content under field conditions. The objectives of this study were to construct, install and calibrate a hydraulic weighing lysimeter with a hydrostatic pressure sensor for automation of readings, and analyze its performance as compared to the traditional reading system with mercury Lima, et. al.
541Irriga, Botucatu, v. 18, n. 3, p. 540-557, julho-setembro, 2013 piston. The lysimeter consisted of a tank with internal glass fiber, circular edge area of 1.32 m² and volume of 1 m³, and a weighing system with three hydraulic flexible pillow of butyl nylon 100 mm in diameter. Calibration was conducted in known mass containers, which represented a range of mass variation of 50 mm. The results showed high linearity between mass variation and the sensor and manometer readings. Accuracy of 0.135 mm ETo recorded by the pressure gauge and up to 0.061 mm ETo by the sensor showed that the pressure sensor is more sensitive to mass variations than the lysimeter. Errors associated with hysteresis, estimates of mass variation and the average positional error were higher in the manometric system.