HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Noborio, K. Articles by Tan, C. S. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Noborio, K. Articles by Tan, C. S. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by Noborio, K. Articles by Tan, C. S. Related Collections Time Domain Reflectometry, TDR Vadose Zone Processes and Chemical Transport

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Solute Transport Measurement Under Transient Field Conditions Using Time Domain Reflectometry

^a Iwate Univ., Morioka, Iwate 020-8550, Japan; present address, School of Agriculture, Meiji Univ., Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-8571, Japan
^b Third Floor University Hall, Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2J9
^c Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Harrow, ON, Canada N0R 1G0
^* Corresponding author (gary.kachanoski{at}ualberta.ca)

Received 7 February 2005.

Measurement of transport properties of field soil remains a challenge. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) has been used for rapid and nondestructive measurement of the movement of conservative tracers in controlled laboratory and field experiments. Measuring transport under transient conditions in the laboratory using TDR has also been reported, but obtaining appropriate calibration relationships remains a challenge. We present a method for rapid and nondestructive measurement of field transport of an electrolytic tracer (applied to the soil surface) under transient rainfall and evapotranspiration conditions with net drainage using TDR without any a priori calibrations. The method uses TDR probes in plots with and without a tracer applied. The simultaneous TDR measurements of apparent impedance and dielectric constant in the paired plots were used to calculate the relative solute mass remaining to a given depth (i.e., TDR probe depth) as a function of time during a 270-d field experiment under natural rainfall and evapotranspiration conditions of net drainage. The measurements give relative solute mass flux that is equivalent to the solute travel time probability density function.

Abbreviations: CDE, convective–dispersive transport • CLT, convective lognormal transport • DOY, day of year • pdf, probability density function • TDR, time domain reflectometry