Abstract

DUARTE, Thiago Franco; ARAUJO DA SILVA, Tonny José; BONFIM-SILVA, Edna Maria  and  KOETZ, Marcio. Using Arduino sensors to monitor vacuum gauge and soil water moisture. Dyna rev.fac.nac.minas [online]. 2021, vol.88, n.219, pp.190-196.  Epub Mar 15, 2022. ISSN 0012-7353.  https://doi.org/10.15446/dyna.v88n219.94121.

Sensors associated with the Arduino board can be an alternative to traditional sensors. The objective of this study was to calibrate a capacitive sensor to measure soil moisture and determine the soil water retention curve (< 100 kPa) using the MPX5100DP pressure transducer in conjunction with capacitive sensor measurements. The soil used was Red Oxisol, which had a clay texture and a bulk density of 1.20 Mg m-3. The model y=a-bcx was fitted to the capacitive sensor data, which had the following statistical parameters: 9% (MAPE, mean absolute percentage error), 0.025 (RMSE, root-mean-square error), 0.97 (d), and 0.93 (R2). In general, the error for the retention curves obtained with the capacitive sensor and that obtained by weighing was 0.025 (RMSE). Despite the slight tendency of the capacitive sensor to underestimate the highest values of soil moisture, these sensors can be used as an alternative for measuring soil moisture and water tension.

Keywords : instrumentation; soil physics; low cost sensors; SWRC; van Genuchten.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )