IMKO TRIME-PICO 32, Manual

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2017-05-30 Manual TRIME_PICO64-32 Version 2_0
Page 37
12 Measure Electrical Conductivity with TRIME Probes
A reliable, practical and easy-to-use Determination of Soil
Conductivity and Salt Content with TRIME Probes
IMKO´s TRIME TDR-probes can now report soil EC as standard simultaneously with soil moisture
content percentage. A manual conversion based on researched curves for different soil types ena-
bles the user to derive a soil EC expressed in mg/l TDS (total dissolved salts).
TRIME TDR probes can do this very accurately because:
TRIME probes measure conductivity with the same large soil volume as it will be used for the TDR
moisture measurement. The contact of the probe rods inside the soil is far less critical as with "gal-
vanic" EC probes with a point to point measurement where even small air gaps lead to significant
deviations.
TRIME probes use coated and therefore isolated rods which guarantee the non-appearance of gal-
vanic accumulation along the rods allowing for long-run installations over many years. Unisolated
rods means there is a risk of galvanic reactions and possible influence on the sensor´s reading with
serious problems when the probes must be removed from larger depths due to a rod cleaning.
TRIME probes measure moisture and conductivity very precisely at a frequency of 1GHz with a better
and more exact separation of moisture and conductivity in comparison to capacitive probes with
lower frequencies. This means that in practice, a reliable determination of the pore water conductivi-
ty EC
w
and respectively TDS (mg of salt per liter water) is possible at different moisture levels.
All TRIME probes work with a concurrently basic calibration for moisture and conductivity. This al-
lows a check of the limits of saline stress in soils according to standards of FAO2006 for specific soils.