Neutron moisture meters - the minimum error in the derived water density

Abstract

Wilson and Ritchie (Aust. J. Soil Res., 1986, 24, 11-23) derived the response of a moisture meter to the soil parameters matrix density, mass absorption coefficient and mass scattering coefficient. The empirical equations describing these dependences were partially differentiated and used to determine the error introduced by the inaccuracy in each soil parameter. The present paper quantifies the error introduced by a 1% error in each of the soil parameters; the accuracy to which the soil parameters can be measured is discussed and the overall accuracy in the final water density is determined for a typical soil.