African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6900

Full Length Research Paper

Calibration of time domain reflectometry (TDR) on the basis of torf sand and its optimisation for irrigation automations

Ferhat Kup*, Ramazan Saglam, Ibrahim Tobi, Hasan Sahin and Cevdet Saglam
Department of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agriculture, Osmanbey Campus, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 28 March 2011
  •  Published: 31 May 2011

Abstract

 

In this study, requirement calibrations performed for irrigation automation at the agricultural irrigation, particularly by means of taking as a base the torf sand, from the greenhouse, garden and flowerpot soil, were carried out. In order to make the TDR (time domain reflectometry) device suitable for watering automation, the water pump was automatically used to perform drip irrigation according to the humidity values provided via integrated adjusted resistances and the relay system to the device. Compatibility was determined between the values obtained from automation. As a result, TDR humidity sensors, used for soil water content measurement, are both easier and cheaper than other systems. It has been seen that this examined system can be applied for different types of soils too.

 

Key words: Time domain reflectometry (TDR), soil water content, torf, irrigation, automation.