SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT

DETERMINATION
ABE 412 – IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE ENGINEERING

Carolyn Grace G. Somera

Instructor
SOIL MOISTURE CONSTANTS
Saturation Point – moisture content that is present in the soil
when almost all, if not all, the soil pore spaces are filled with
water.
Field Capacity – moisture content that is left in the soil when all
gravitational water has been drained
– moisture content that is left 2 days after a heavy rain or
application of water.
Wilting Point – moisture content that is left in the soil when all the
plant organs are wilted or virtually dead.
CLASSES OF SOIL-WATER AVAILABILITY TO PLANTS AND
DRAINAGE CHARACTERISTICS
Saturation point

Gravitational water
Field capacity

Available
moisture Capillary water

Wilting point

Unavailable Hygrosccopic water

moisture
SOIL MOISTURE
BASED ON THE AVAILABILITY TO PLANTS
Unavailable water – water that will readily move out of
the soil if favorable drainage is provided.
Capillary water – water that exists in the pore spaces of
the soil and is retained against the force of gravity in a
soil that permits unobstructed drainage.
Hygroscopic water – water on the soil grains that is not
capable of significant movement by the action of gravity
or capillary forces
SOIL MOISTURE
BASED ON THE PREDOMINANT FORCES ACTING ON THE SOIL
Gravitational water or superfluous water – drains quickly
from the root zone under normal drainage conditions.
Available moisture – difference between gravitational and
unavailable water.
Unavailable moisture – held too tightly by capillary forces
and is generally not accessible to plant roots.
FORCES ACTING ON SOIL WATER
• Adhesive force – causes the dissimilar particles and/or
surfaces to cling to one another.
• Cohesive force – causes the similar or identical particles/
surfaces to cling to one another.
• Gravitational force – due to the effect of gravity.
• Osmotic force – caused by salt or ion concentration
differences or gradients.
AVAILABLE MOISTURE
• Difference in moisture
content of the soil
between field capacity
and permanent wilting
point.
𝐀𝐌 = 𝐅𝐂 − 𝐖𝐏

General Relationship Between Soil Water

Characteristics and Texture
READILY AVAILABLE MOISTURE
• The portion of the available moisture that is most easily
extracted by plants; approximately 75% of the available
moisture
𝟑
𝐑𝐀𝐌 = 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓𝐀𝐌 or 𝐀𝐌
𝟒

ALLOWABLE MOISTURE DEPLETION (AMD)

• Amount of water that is allowed to be depleted (usually
expressed in percent).
FILLING THE AVAILABLE SOIL WATER
RESERVOIR
• The relationship between size of stream or discharge,
time of application, area to be irrigated, and depth of
water to be applied is as follows:
𝐪𝐭 = 𝐚𝐝
where:
q = discharge of water
t = time required to irrigate the area
a = area to be irrigated
d = depth of water
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
1. An irrigator uses a stream of 100 lps for two days (48
hours) to irrigate 12 hectares of sugar beets. What is
the average depth of water to be applied?

qt = ad li 1𝑚3 3600𝑠
100 × 48ℎ𝑟 ×
s 1000𝑙𝑖 1ℎ𝑟
qt d=
d= 10,000𝑚2
a 12ha ×
1ha
d = .144m or 14.4 cm
QUIZ 2:
1. A farmer desires to irrigate a border which is 12 meters
wide and 150 meters long. He wants to apply an
average of 75-mm depth of water to the area with a
stream of 60 lps. How long will it take him to irrigate
this border?
ASSIGNMENT:
1. The soil moisture at field capacity is 27.2% and the
moisture content at the time of irrigating is 19.0%. The
apparent specific gravity is 1.3 and the depth of soil to
be wetted is 1 meter.
a) How many liters per second of water must be
applied?
b) How long will it take to irrigate the 5 hectares with a
115 lps stream?