EC-20, EC-10 and EC-5 User’s Manual
2. About the EC-20, EC-10, EC-5
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2. About the EC-20, EC-10, EC-5
The EC-10 and EC-20
The EC-10 and EC-20 measure the dielectric constant of
the soil in order to find its volumetric water content.
Since the dielectric constant of water is much higher
than that of air or soil minerals, the dielectric constant of
the soil is a sensitive measure of water content. The EC-
10 and EC-20 have a very low power requirement and
high resolution. This gives you the ability to make as
many measurements as you want (even hourly) over a
long period of time (like a growing season, for exam-
ple), with minimal battery usage.
The EC-5
The EC-5 varies from its EC-10 and EC-20 cousins.
Although the principles of measurement are the same,
its two-prong design and higher measurement frequency
allows the EC-5 to measure VWC from 0 to 100%
(VWC of saturated soils is generally 40-60% depending
on the soil type) and allows accurate measurement of all
soils and soilless medias and a much wider range of
salinities.
