| Precise readings form the basis of your scientific work! |
Capacitive methods are marginally lower in price than TRIME® -TDR, but they don‘t provide the measuring precision required for scientific work.
Comparison of TRIME®-TDR (TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY) and capacitive soil moisture measurement systems (i.e. DeltaT, Campbell, Sentek) |
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Water content
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High accuracy even for
high soil water contents (up to 70% by vol)
In contrast to other measurement techniques TRIME®-TDR guarantees correct readings in soils under saturated condition. An exact measurement value at near  saturation is essential to obtain a reliable input when working on e.g.:
- water balance modelling
- groundwater regeneration and seepage water modelling
- erosion assessment
- land slide risk assessment
- recognizing nutrient discharge- or moisturelogging during irrigating
- flood prediction
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Poor determination
of high soil moisture content (unsatisfactory in cohesive soil >35% by vol.)
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Long-time stability
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TRIME-TDR uses coated and thus isolated rods which guarantee the non-appearance of galvanic accumulation along the rods. Thus TRIME-TDR sensors are suitable for long-run installations.
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Blank rods and therefore danger of galvanic reactions and possible influence on the sensors reading. |
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Electrical conductivity
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Excellent accuracy in high pore water electrical conductivity conditions (up to max. 50dS/m). Coated rods. |
Reading depends heavily on pore water electrical conductivity > 1dS/m. Rods without coating. |
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Soil type
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Accurate measurement in clay and organic soil (soil specific calibration required) |
Insufficient accuracy in clay and organic soil (soil specific calibration required) |
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Calibration
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Universal calibration for mineral soils. Soil specific calibration can be easily established with TRIME software tools. |
Soil specific calibration necessary |
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Probe geometry
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No influence of the geometry of the rods on the reading. |
Strong influence of the geometry of the rods on the reading (i.e. when bending the rods by pushing them into the soil) |
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Measurement field
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Rod length up to 30cm available, great penetration depth of the electrical field = large measurement field |
Only short rod length possible, little penetration depth of the electrical field = small measurement field |
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Surrounding conditions
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Little effect of electromagnetic noise on the reading |
Strong effect of electromagnetic noise on the reading |
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Maintenance
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Rods are replaceable |
Rods are mostly not replaceable |
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| TRIME-TDR in comparison with conventional TDR |
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Large-scale soil moisture measurement projects
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TRIME-TDR sensors with inside network capability are not limited concerning cable length and can be used problem free in large scale monitoring systems.
Modular, flexible, and extendable set-up of TRIME-probes and other environmental sensors inside the ENVIS network
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TDR-sensors with TDR-multiplexers are limited with a cable length of up to 10m. The longer the high frequency TDR-cable the higher the measurement deviation. TDR-cables in wet surroundings induce considerable measurement deviations and can fail.
Very high efforts and costs in cabling because every single sensor needs a single cable.
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Exact material moisture measurement is also crucial when
- Assessing structures
- Creating soil or climate models
- Drying and processing bulk produce
The TRIME®-TDR technology guarantees a precise, direct, non-destructive and cost-efficient measurement of material moisture in many applications.
At the same time the reliable and easy-to-use IMKO data logging systems facilitate gathering your measurement data.
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About TRIME-TDR 