At the merriwagga site, we are aiming to compare moisture infiltration between various rotations, ie we want to measure the soil moisture movement throughout the profile with varying surface management. In particular we are interested in differences in moisture infiltration between a cultivated soil surface vs a bare soil surface vs an uncultivated surface with stubble cover.

We are doing this by using capacitance probes (C Probes) which measure capacitance (effectively soil moisture) in the soil.

Each probe has 4 sensors located at different depths, which allows us to monitor soil moisture throughout the profile.

These sensors continually log to a base station, which is connected via radio frequency (like 2 way) to a base station and modem. All the data is then downloaded at 7am daily, and linked to a series of graphs that appear on your screen.

When on the site, you will notice that there are 4 soil moisture graphs as well as a rainfall graph.

Each graph represents a probe, which is in a particular rotation. This allows you to monitor moisture movement under each rotation.

The numbers that are on the graph represent soil moisture, however are not exact figures. The best way to observe them is to look at their variation as the season progresses.

Click on link below to gain latest rainfall figures at the Merriwagga site.

The username is cwfs and the password is cropsol

Merriwagga rainfall and soil moisture graphs