RF Soil Moisture Content Measurement System

Pavement life span is often affected by the amount of voids in the base and subgrade soils, especially the moisture content. Moisture content can be measured in many ways. Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) are two desirable techniques to indirectly measure the in-situ soil moisture content through electrical properties of soils. TDR system gives accurate results. However, due to the complexity, cost, and high power required by the TDR, the existing system is not economical and is not easy to in practical applications. On the other hand, the measurement results are not too stable since the TDR fail to locate the reflected waveform. The GPR technique is based on a GPR, which operates by transmitting short pulses of electromagnetic energy into the pavement. This method is also complexity, cost, and high power required. And the test result is significant affected by the environment. The new sensor is designed base on the parallel transmission line. We measure the moisture content using the phase information of the transmitted waves at 1 GHz. A test sensor was built and tested. The test results showed the system improved the accuracy and simple to use.

Figure 1. The multifunction data acquisition box The multifunction data acquisition box is shown in Figure 1. In this box, it includes a multi channel data acquisition board, single board computer, data storage module, modem and LCD display. The box will be installed on field site with up to 20 sensors. The researcher can remote access the multifunction data acquisition box through the phone line with the office computer. The researcher can remotely monitor the sensor working status, the moisture content change. The firmware of the single computer can also be updated through the phone line.

Figure 2. The moisture content sensor A moisture content sensor is shown in Figure 2. The sensor head sticks out the waterproofed box. The sensor plugs to the multifunction data acquisition box through the RJ11 jack. The soil moisture content measurement system has been installed in the Bryan and Waco, Texas. A Bryan field-installing picture is shown Figure 3.

Figure 3. UH researchers and TxDOT staff working in Bryan site

One of the sensors data measured in Waco site is shown in Figure 4. The sensors were installed there from August 20, 2002.

16 Moisture content % 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1 501 1001 1501 2001 2501 3001 3501 4001 4501 5001 Time (x 15 minits)

Figure 4. One of the sensors data measured in Waco site The lab tests and the field tests show that the new sensor is reliable with high accuracy. System specifications 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Power: 5VDC, 400mA; 12VDC, 60mA(Sleeping), 150mA(Measuring) Date storage: one year for 15 minutes measuring period Operating temperature: 0C ~ +60C LCD display: 20 column, 4 row Dimension: Sensor, 130mm(L) X 55mm (W) A/D: 8 bits Channels: 20 Sensors 8. Data access methods: serial port, modem, internet