Gamma-ray beam attenuation as an auxiliary technique for the evaluation of the soil water retention curve

The soil water retention curve is fundamental for the hydraulic characterization of a soil and has many applications in agricultural research as well as in practical agriculture. A new procedure for soil moisture and soil bulk density evaluation inside closed pressure chambers through gamma-ray beam attenuation is presented. The proposed procedure presents several advantages in relation to the traditional process: avoids the need of continuous sample manipulation; minimizes the problem of hysteresis; allows a more precise evaluation of soil moisture by taking into account changes of soil bulk density due to swelling or shrinking on addition or removal of water allows frequent evaluation of soil moisture without the need of opening the pressure chamber; allows a more precise judgement of equilibrium; reduces drastically the time of the determination of the retention curve and alloys easy automation of data acquisition by a computer. (author)