Marvin Stone
Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering,
Oklahoma State University

Effective estimation of soil water content is one of the critical elements to achieving efficient water use in agricultural crop production. Many different sensing technologies are being used to directly measure soil water content, but nearly all technologies require direct contact with the soil. The direct contact techniques generally imply burial of sensors in the crop root zones and removal of the sensors near the time of harvesting of crops. Sensor technologies that could be used to remotely measure soil water content could circumvent the need to bury sensors and could allow permanent mounting or mounting of sensors on field machines. Dielectric remote sensing of soil water content is examined. A tomographic technique that allows soil moisture with depth is reported. Results from simulation and from a field study employing tomographic technique are reported.