Automated wetting front detector

The rational use of water resources in agriculture is a key factor to achieve true sustainable development. The propagation speed of the wetting front is of great importance for water usage optimization in irritation scheduling. This paper presents the design and construction of an automated wetting front detector that allows registering the speed of water propagation through soil. In addition the equipment can be used to control the irrigation process. Finally the equipment can used to extract water samples for analysis of nitrates and salt content migration due to irrigation. The equipment was tested in an experimental rhizotron/lysimeter over a 10 day period. The results indicate that the equipment can be used for detecting when the water has reached a predefined depth, and thus the speed of water propagation. Moreover, the use of the equipment as part of irrigation scheduling can contribute to optimize water usage in agriculture.