Non-destructive soil water content determination is a fundamental component for many agricultural and environmental applications. The accuracy and costs of the sensors define the measurement scheme and the ability to fit the natural heterogeneous conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate five commercially available and relatively cheap sensors usually grouped with impedance and FDR sensors. ThetaProbe ML2x (impedance) and ECH₂O EC-10, ECH₂O EC-20, ECH₂O EC-5, and ECH₂O TE (all FDR) were tested on silica sand and loess of defined characteristics under controlled laboratory conditions. The calibrations were carried out in nine consecutive soil water contents from dry to saturated conditions (pure water and saline water). The gravimetric method was used as a reference method for the statistical evaluation (ANOVA with significance level 0.05). Generally, the results showed that our own calibrations led to more accurate soil moisture estimates. Variance component analysis arranged the factors contributing to the total variation as follows: calibration (contributed 42%), sensor type (contributed 29%), material (contributed 18%), and dry bulk density (contributed 11%). All the tested sensors performed very well within the whole range of water content, especially the sensors ECH₂O EC-5 and ECH₂O TE, which also performed surprisingly well in saline conditions.

Hydraulic conductivity at and near saturation (Ks and K(h)) are among the most important characteristics defining water behavior in soil. Characterization of possibilities, advantages and limitations of the Mini Disk infiltrometer (MDI) for Ks and K(h) determination in comparison with Hood infiltrometer (HI) was the main aim of this study. The MDI device was subjected to testing on a cultivated silty clay loam soil under three different tillage treatments; conventional, reduced and no-tillage plot. The results are based on 72 infiltration experiments carried out during four experimental phases within one year. Steady-state and transient data analysis methods were applied. K(h) values were determined for van Genuchten hydraulic parameters taken from different sources (two versions of User’s manual, Rosetta). The results show suitability of MDI to determine K(h) of tested soil; clear differences have been observed between the K(h) values measured on plots with different tillage treatment. However, these values were significantly lower (ANOVA, α = 0.05) than those measured by HI. MDI based data were reflecting seasonal changes in structure and pore-size distribution with quantification of macropore contribution to the total saturated flux. Application of K(h) MDI data for fine-textured and structural soils evaluated before 2010 should be reconsidered.

Core Ideas: Small smart lysimeters make high‐quality research of low and dense crops easy. FAO 56 can estimate well the reference crop ET on non‐ or mildly stressed sites. Weather station grass (not water stressed) has lower ET than the reference crop. Lysimeters are basic instruments for evapotranspiration measurement. This study characterized the actual evapotranspiration of unirrigated and unfertilized grass in a warm region of the Czech Republic on a Chernozem loamy soil. An SFL‐300 weighing lysimeter (diameter 0.3 m, depth 0.3 m) was used for this purpose. The suction at its bottom was maintained at the same level as in the native soil nearby. We selected 585 rainless days with regular records for the analysis of daily differences. On most days, the lysimeter‐measured actual evapotranspiration, ET _a , was smaller than the Penman–Monteith FAO 56 reference crop evapotranspiration, ET ₀ . The FAO 56 procedure was found to be a reasonable estimator of the unstressed evapotranspiration in a moderately stressed environment. The ET _a /ET ₀ ratio and the canopy surface resistance, r _s , depend on the soil water content and suction measured at 5 cm. These graphs break down into horizontal unstressed parts and declining (for ET _a /ET ₀ ) or inclining (for r _s ) water‐stressed parts. The ratio ET _a /ET ₀ is about 85% and r _s is about 250 s m ⁻¹ when the grass is not under water stress. The annual curve of the unstressed crop coefficient has a sine shape. An energy balance criterion suggests that advection of heat is important in winter but not so much in summer. The study provides parameters of evapotranspiration for a canopy that can be found on many standard weather stations and demonstrates that high‐quality research into evapotranspiration of low, dense, and shallow‐rooting crops is possible with small lysimeters of this type.

This study introduces a simple and cost-effective method for the indirect determination of field capacity (FC) in soil, a critical parameter for soil hydrology and environmental modeling. The relationships between FC and soil moisture constants, specifically maximum capillary water capacity (MCWC) and retention water capacity (RWC), were established using undisturbed soil core samples analyzed via the pressure plate method and the “filter paper draining method”. The aim was to reduce the time and costs associated with traditional FC measurement methods, as well as allowing for the use of legacy databases containing MCWC and RWC values. The results revealed the substantial potential of the “filter paper draining method” as a promising approach for indirect FC determination. FC determined as soil water content at −33 kPa can be effectively approximated by the equation FC33 = 1.0802 RWC − 0.0688 (with RMSE = 0.045 cm³/cm³ and R = 0.953). FC determined as soil water content at −5 or −10 kPa can be effectively approximated by both equations FC5 = 1.0146 MCWC − 0.0163 (with RMSE = 0.027 cm³/cm³ and R = 0.961) and FC10 = 1.0152 MCWC − 0.0275 (with RMSE = 0.033 cm³/cm³ and R = 0.958), respectively. Historical pedotransfer functions by Brežný and Váša relating FC to fine particle size fraction were also evaluated for practical application, and according to the results, they cannot be recommended for use.