SM150T User Manual 1.0
Appendix 2:
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Appendix 2:
The SM150 Temperature Sensor
Soil moisture content is used with the measurement of soil temperature in
several major application areas including the following:
Global warming and climate studies
Soils contain more than four times as much carbon as the CO2 in the
atmosphere, and each year they release about ten times as much carbon
through soil respiration as the combined release through burning fossil fuels.
Soil respiration rates are particularly sensitive to changes in both temperature
and the moisture content of the soil.
Soils also have a significant interaction with climate as they store and release
heat
– soil temperature provides a measure of the energy partitioning, which
in turn is strongly influenced by the effect of soil moisture on thermal
conductivity.
Civil engineering
Most civil engineering projects depend critically on the mechanical properties
of soils. Those properties are effected by many different parameters, but
moisture content and temperature are the two variables that are most likely to
change over time, so may be measured together in order to assess their
impact.
Soil contamination and hydrogeology
Soil moisture is the main determinant for the movement of contaminants and
solutes through soils, but temperature also has a significant influence so they
are often measured together.
Agriculture
Temperature may be measured alongside soil water content for studies of
evapotranspiration, soil water balance and irrigation. Soil strength and
seedling emergence depend on soil moisture and temperature, and both need
to be taken into account when deciding when to sow.
