In-situ soil parametrization from multi-layer moisture data

Abstract: Inversion methodology has been used to obtain, from multi-layer soil probes records, a complete soil parametrisation, namely water retention curve, unsaturated conductivity curve and bulk density at 4 depths. The approach integrates water dynamics, hysteresis and the effect of bulk density on conductivity to extract soil parameters required from most simulation models. The method is applied to sub-sets of data collection, allowing to understand that not every data-sets contains the information required for method convergence. A comparison with experimental bulk-density values show that inversion could give information even with a better adherence to model, as it considers the effect of roots and skeleton. The method may be applied to any type of multi-layer water content probes giving the opportunity to enrich soil parameter availability and reliability.