TRIME
®
-PICO T3/IPH44 IPH50 Version 2_0
2017-05-30
Page 16
7
The TRIME-PICO IPH Tube Access Probe
7.1
Introduction
The measuring of soil water content with TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) is now a well estab-
lished method. However water content profiling is not possible with conventional TDR rod
probes. The TRIME-PICO IPH tube probe was developed for this reason.
Since 1994 the TRIME-T3 and the former TRIME-IPH have found numerous applications in earth
and environmental sciences, fulfilling even the most exacting requirements. Now the new
TRIME-PICO IPH replaces the TRIME-IPH and has new additional features, as the measurement
of the temperature and a memory for up to 15 material specific calibrations.
7.2
Measuring Field
The effective penetration depth of the probe is about 15 cm with the highest sensitivity in the
immediate vicinity of the access tube and decreases exponentially with distance. Figure 1 shows
the electric field distribution of the probe and the approximate measuring volume.
Figure 1
:
Electric field distribution of the TRIME probe and approximate measuring volume
.
The elliptical measuring volume enables a higher representation to be achieved by several
measurements rotating the probe after each measurement and calculating the mean value.
Note that the necessity of a close contact between access tube and material is essential
for reliable measurements and that the tubes should be installed by our recommended
method.
