SMX

Electrical Interface for Watermark™ or Gypsum Block Sensors.

Watermark™ sensors are available from Irrometer Company* and their distributors world wide,
including EME Systems. These soil moisture sensors are to be buried in intimate contact with soil
at root depth, where they will reach equilibrium with the local soil moisture. The measurement
correlates well with soil water potential. This is fine for agriculture, because water potential (in
units of kilo-Pascal or centibar) best quantifies the
work plant roots do to extract moisture from the
soil. Of course, plants and soils have their individ-
ual characteristics. The bottom line is that the read-
ings are related to plant stress and well being.

The signal is electrical resistance, which decreases

with increasing soil moisture (and also temperature,
which can be compensated). The sensor construc-
tion is ingenious: A perforated stainless steel cyl-
inder supports a permeable membrane, inside
which there is a tightly packed sand aggregate, the
“granular matrix”, and at one end there is a wafer
of gypsum, and concentric electrodes, which are
attached to wires that emerge to the soil surface.
The gypsum wafer serves as a buffer against differences in soil acidity and salinity, so that the
electrical resistance between the electrodes depends on moisture and temperature only.

A special circuit is needed to measure the electrical resistance of the Watermark sensor. DC cur-
rents must not be allowed to flow through the wet part of the circuit, or else irreversible reactions
will occur and spoil the readings. AC excitation avoids these problems, by reversing the polarity
of the current many times per second, so that no net reaction takes place at either electrode. The
circuit must also isolate the sensor electrodes from galvanic currents in the soil environment.
Metal objects such as ground rods or pipes or tanks or other sensors that contact the soil can give
rise to underground electrical currents in relation to the electrodes of the Watermark sensor, and
those too can spoil the reading and degrade the sensor.

The SMX circuit provides the AC excitation and galvanic isolation

required by the Watermark sensor. The output signal is a voltage, or alter-
natively, from the same module, a current or a frequency, that depends on
the AC electrical resistance, from which the soil moisture tension can be
calculated by an intelligent data logger or nomograph. Two wires go to
the Watermark sensor, and the SMX output is routed to a data logger,
controller or meter. The SMX module allows the Watermark sensors to
be used with a wide range of general purpose equipment that does not
have built in the special circuitry required to read the Watermark AC resistance.

The SMX is available as a module potted in industrial epoxy, with 6 wire leads, suitable for out-
door deplooyment, and the module is also available as an assembled circuit board, suitable for
incorporation into custom systems.

* Watermark is a trademark of Irrometer Company, Riverside CA 909/689-1701 <http://www.irrometer.com>

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 1
 Specifications:

• Supply Voltage: 4–15 VDC

• Voltage output
0.2 volts dry to 1.0 volts wet typical
(as high as 1.7 V with sensor short circuit)
• Frequency output 50 hz dry to 7 khz wet
open collector square wave (needs pullup
resistor to read out frequency.)
(as high as 13 khz with sensor short circuit)
• Current output (also supply current)
0.2 mA dry to 1.0 mA wet
(as high as 1.7 ma with sensor short circuit)
• less than 0.01% per Volt supply variation.
• http://www.emesystems.com

The SMX is a potted module (0.825" sqaure x 0.25"

thick) for placement in the field near the sensor. There
are two wires for connection to the Watermark or gyp-
sum block sensor, and four wires for connection to the
data logger or other equipment. SMX rev 2, top view (component side)
blue sensor
• connections blue, sensor
red: + 5 to 15 volts DC yellow, volts out
green: signal frequency, needs pull-up to +V green, frequency out, open collector
white or yelow: voltage signal red, power +3.5 to 15 volts
black: common black, common
blue wires: soil moisture block
• Operating Temperature: -0°C to +50°C
no meaningful signal below 0°C
Figure 1

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 2
 Wiring the SMX to the data logger

The two blue wires from the module connect to the Watermark sensor terminals, either polarity is okay.
Use wire nuts or other standard means of wiring. Insulate the connections, because water or other con-
ductive material between them would give a false signal.

The SMX needs a power supply in the range of 3.5 to 15 volts DC. The SMX draws 1 milliamp or less of
supply current, so it is possible to provide power from a switched output pin from a microcontroller. If
more than one SMX is to be installed at a single location, power each one of them separately, in order to
avoid interactions between the sensors.

Figure 2 shows how to connect the sensor for digital frequency output. The pullup resistor shown (4.7
kohms, value not critical) can pull up to any voltage from 3 to 7 volts DC. The output signal is a square
wave, and its frequency varies from 50 hz when the sensor is bone dry, up to 10000+ hertz when the
sensor is soaking wet. This output can be measured using a COUNT or PERIOD function on the data
logger. Note that the white and the black wires are connected together.

Figure 2: connection for 50hz to 10,000 hz frequency output

Figure 3 shows how to connect the sensor for voltage output. The green wire should be connected to the
white wire. The minimum power supply is 4.5 volts in this configuration. The output signal is a voltage
that varies from 0.2 volts when the sensor is bone dry, up to 1+ volt when the sensor is soaking wet.
For best smoothing of the signal, add a capacitor of 100 µF from the voltage signal line to common. That
will smooth out the remaining low frequency ripple.

Figure 3: connection for 0.2 to 1 voltage output

Figure 4 shows how to connect the sensor for two wire current output. The black, green and white wires
are joined. The output signal is a current that varies from 0.2 milliamp when the sensor is bone dry, up
to over 1 milliamp when the sensor is soaking wet. The current on the two wire circuit may be converted
to a voltage at the input of the data logger. A 1 kΩ resistor will convert the 0.2–1.0 millamp current into a
0.,2–1 volt signal. The power supply voltage must be a high enough voltage to sustain the maximum
expected voltage across that resistor, plus the line loss in the wiring, plus the 3.5 volts required by the
SMX module itself. For example, with a 15 volt supply and a 10kohm resistor, it is possible to achieve a
signal output of 0 to 10 volts. DC across the resistor. Add a capacitor across the resistor to smooth the
residual ripple
Figure 4: connection for two-wire 0.2 to 1 ma current output.

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 3
 Watermark installation:

"Plant" the sensors, following the Watermark instructions for presoaking. Install the sensors while they and the soil
are wet, and maintain good contact with the surrounding soil. Use a slurry as “glue” if necessary.

The sensors will interact with one another slightly if they are planted too close together. Keep them a foot or two
apart if possible.

Install a temperature sensor at the same depth as the sensor, in order to implement the temperature compensation.

Lightning protection:
This circuit, like any that is installed in intimate contact with the soil, is subject to danger from lightning This is
especially a problem if the soil moisture sensor is installed at a distance from the data logger or readout device that
is monitoring the wetness, and the data logger has its own ground connection. If lightning strikes nearby, there can
be large differences in ground potential between the two locations and currents will attempt to flow through the
interconneting wires and through the sensitive circuit elements. The inputs on the blue and brown wires are protect-
ed to ±25 volts, however, this might not be enough in frequent lightning areas. Solutions:

1) Use a TVS (transient voltage suppressor, surge protector) rated at 12 volts across the sensor leads, with the
ground of the TVS attached to the cable shield that leads up to the ground terminal on the data logger.

sensor blue
TVS system ground
-12 sensor blue
2) power the SMX from a separate battery, and transmit the data as a fre-
quency using optical isolation.
Figure 5: surge protector.
3) install the data logger and the SMX in close physical proximity.

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 4
 Notes on basic reading of the sensor signal.
Connect the SMX as in figure 2, for frequency output. This program is written in PBASIC for the BASIC Stamp,
using the command COUNT to determine the SMX oscillation frequency.

' simple test of the SMX operation, count input.

result var word
loop:
count 12,1000,result ' count on Stamp P12 for 1 second
debug ? result ' show the result in counts
goto loop

The result should be between 50 Hertz (dry) to 10000 Hertz drenched (550 Ω) or 13000 Hertz with a direct short
circuit across the grid.

Alternatively, here is code using the voltage input version. Connect the SMX as in figure 3, for voltage output, and
connect the voltage to an analog to digital converter, as for example an analog input of an OWL2e data logger.

' simple test of the SMX operation, voltage input.

result var word
DO
GOSUB ADread ' not shown here
DEBUG ? result ' show the result in millivolts
PAUSE 1000 ' slow it down
LOOP

The result should come out between 200 millivolts (dry) to 1000 millivolts (drenched, ~550 Ω), to 1700 millivolts
(direct short circuit across the grid). IMPORTANT: If two or more sensors are located in close proximity, the
power should be turned on to only one at a time, to avoid interaction.

' simple test of the SMX operation, voltage input.

result var word
DO
HIGH power1 ' turn on power to the 1st SMX module
PAUSE 1000 ' allow reading to settle
GOSUB ADread ' read the value
LOW power1 ' turn off power to the 1st SMX
DEBUG ? result ' show the result in millivolts
HIGH power2 ' turn on power to the 2nd SMX module
PAUSE 1000 ' allow reading to settle
GOSUB ADread ' read the value
LOW power2 ' turn off power to the 2nd SMX
DEBUG ? result ' show the result in millivolts
LOOP

The raw readings above can be used to establish thresholds for irrigation or other actions, based on observation of
plant stress and well being. On the other hand, in order to obtain quantitative results that can be compared to the
Irrometer tables and advice for use of the Watermark, the raw voltage or raw count can be transformed to resistance,
temperature compensated, and converted to moisture units in kilopascals. The following paragraphs describe this
procedure, and a reference PBASIC program is listed in the appendix.

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 5
 ohms volts µ-amps hertz
0 1707 1707 13233
1 1704 1704 13209
2 1702 1702 13186
3 1699 1699 13162
4 1697 1697 13139
6 1691 1691 13092
8 1686 1686 13047
12 1676 1676 12962
16 1666 1666 12871
24 1645 1645 12708

Table of voltage, current and frequency output by the SMX module,

32 1625 1625 12526

when the given resistance is placed across its input terminals.

48 1588 1588 12200
64 1552 1552 11893
96 1485 1485 11312
128 1426 1426 10802
192 1320 1320 9882
256 1230 1230 9104

TABLE 1
384 1089 1089 7878
512 980 980 6932
768 828 828 5596
1024 726 726 4697
1536 596 596 3557
2048 517 517 2862
3072 427 427 2071
4096 377 377 1623
6144 323 323 1135
8192 295 295 874
12288 265 265 612
16384 250 250 476
24576 234 234 335
32768 226 226 264
49152 218 218 194
65536 214 214 157
98304 210 210 122
131072 208 208 103
196608 206 206 85
262144 205 205 76
10000000 201 201 48

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 6
 Table 2:
Showing the resistance values that correspond to certain levels of soil water potential. Summary of
Irrometer "Chart #3", composed of piecewise linear segments. The resistance values are taken or temper-
ature compensated to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius).

SWP slope
kPa ohms ohms/kPa
0 550
50
9 1000
100
10 1100
180
15 2000
200
35 6000
160
55 9200
150
75 12200
135
100 15575
125
200 maximum: 28075

Figure 6: Soil Moisture in kiloPascal vs Watermark resistance in ohms.

250

200

150
kPa

100

50

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000

ohms

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 7
 Interpret the readings.
Soil moisture tension is given in terms of the electrical resistance of the Watermark sensor. Table 1 on the previous
page shows the voltage, current and frequency output of the SMX as a function of resistance across the input. This
data is also graphed in figure 1. Table 2 and figure 5 show soil moisture as a function of resistance. The two tables
provide means to go from the volts or Hertz reading of the SMX, through resistance, to the corresponding soil mois-
ture in kPa. The microcomputer or the spreadsheet can do this automatically, by a process of interpolation. There is
actually one more small step in between table 1 and table 2, and that is that the resistance reading needs to be tem-
perature compensated. The graph

Observe in table 1 that mVolts and µAmps are numerically the same, this being due to the fact that the voltage is
determined by the current passed through a precision 1kΩ resistor.

The shape of this curve in table 1,and figure 1,is due to the design of the electrical circuit. It's output is proportional
to one over the resistance of the sensor and other resistors that limit the low and high frequency of oscillation. This
is by design. (Refer to the appendix 1 for more circuit information.)

The region of the curve in figure 1 that is of interest for irrigation will be the center part, from 500 ohms to 10000
ohms. Incidentally, the relationship of millivolt and current output is linear in relation to frequency. output
(R2>0.999).

Here is another way to express the information in table 2 and figure 6. This frames the relation between kPa and
ohms (@75°F) terms of a piecewise linear computation:

kPa = (ohms - 550) / 50 for 550 <= ohms <= 1000

kPa = 9 + (ohms - 1000) / 100 for 1000 <= ohms <= 1100
kPa = 10 + (ohms - 1100) / 180 for 1100 <= ohms <= 2000
kPa = 10 + (ohms - 2000) / 200 for 2000 <= ohms <= 6000
kPa = 10 + (ohms - 6000) / 160 for 6000 <= ohms <= 9200
kPa = 10 + (ohms - 9200) / 150 for 9200 <= ohms <= 12200
kPa = 10 + (ohms - 12200) / 135 for 12200 <= ohms <= 15575
kPa = 10 + (ohms - 15575) / 125 for 15575 <= ohms <= 28078

The value of ohms on the right side of the equation is the temperature-compensated resistance of the Watermark
sensor. At temperatures higher than the standard (75 degrees Fahrenheit), the Watermark sensor will have a lower
resistance than it does at the standard temperature. The measured resistance will be multiplied by a correction fac-
tor that increases its resistance by 1% per degree F so as to estimate the value of resistance (higher) that it would
have at 75 °F.

Use this formula:

Rcompensated := Rraw * (1 + 0.01 * (°F - 75))

This is embodied in the PBASIC program in appendix 2. The program 1) turns on the power to the SMX module,
2) allows the reading to stabilize for 1 second, 3) reads the raw millivolt value., 4) converts the raw millivolt value
to ohms using a lookup table, 5) appliies the temperature correction, and 6) looks up the SWP in kilopascals in a
second lookup table. That is the reading that is displayed. There may be an additional step, to average the readings
over some period of time to go into the log file.

It is also possible to replace the lookup tables with calculations. The lookup table is better suited to the integer
math of the BASIC Stamp. The calculations are better suited to larger computers that have better math libraries.
For example, the raw millivolts and temperature can be imported into Excel on a PC and the moisture calculation
made there. Appendix 3 shows these calculations.

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 8
 Background, resistance to soil moisture potential, Irrometer chart #3.
Irrometer Corporation has published a table of electrical resistance values in relation to soil moisture in kPa. (table
2 and figure 5 above are taken from "chart #3") The resistance ranges from 550 ohms in saturated soil, 0.0 kPa, to
27950 ohms in bone dry soil, 199 kPa. That is at 75 degrees Fahrenheit, 24 degrees Celsius. This table is the basis
of the readings produced by the Watermark Meter model 30KTCD-NL and for the new Watermark data logger and
the Hanson model AM400 soil moisture data logger . Crop irrigation typically takes place in the range of 10 (sandy
soils) to 60 (clay soils), depending on the crop and many factors. That is a resistance range of 1000 to 10000 ohms
sensor resistance.

It is informative to understand where this comes from. Irrometer "chart #3" is based on a careful study of the
Watermark sensors carried out by Shock, Barnum and Seddigh ("Calibration of the Watermark soil moisture sen-
sors for irrigation management", Proceedings of the 1998 Irrigation Association Technical Conference). The study
was set up in a temperature controlled environment in a sandy loam soil, with 24 model 200SS Watermarks along
with standard tensiometers and temperature sensors. The main part of the Irrometer calibration chart is based those
readings, averaged across the 24 sensors for each wetness and temperature. The experiments were done at both 25
degrees C and at 15 degrees C, so that the temperature compensation is validated over that range. The experiments
covered the range of roughly -2 to -75 kPa, which is the range of the tensiometers used as the standard.

The range from -10 to -75 kPa is in fact the most important for agriculture, because irrigation schemes typically
maintain tension in that range. Shock et al came up with the following equation as the best fit to the data, with the
two variables (resistance and temperature) over the -10 to -75 range.

kPa = (3.213 * kohms + 4.093) / {1 - 0.009733 * kohms - 0.01205 * Celsius)

A graph of that function in relation to the Irrometer calibration is also shown on figure 6. It is important to note

Figure 8: Soil Tension vs. Resistance

120

cal chart #3 continues

linear to 200 kpa
100

cal-chart #3

80
Shock et al, 1998
eq2: P = (3.213*R+4.093)/(1-0.009733*R-0.01205*T)
Soil Tension (-kPa)

60

40

20

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
Resistance (Ohms)

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 9
 that the fit outside the -10 to -75 range is bad.

For suction less than -10 kPa (very wet soils), the slope of the empirical graph has a very different slope. A small
range of resistance values covers a relatively large range of soil moistures. In terms of soil physics, that is proba-
bly due to the falloff in chemical and capillary forces that bond to soil the water as the soil approaches saturation.

The study did not cover higher absolute levels of tension, because tensiometers do not function below about -80
kPa. The Irrometer Watermark calibration chart extends up to -200 kPa. This seems to be a simple extrapolation of
the experimental data,

Caveats.

We have to realize that the data in the calibration chart comes from empirical results in a certain type of soil. Fgure
10 below shows results of resistance vs independently measured moisture in a study of sandy soils, instead of the
loam. (Irmak & Haman, "Performance of the Watermark Granular Matrix Sensor in Sandy Soils", Applied Engi-
neering in Agriculture, 17(6):787-795 2001) This is compared to the Irrometer calibration chart #3. Any given

figure 10: Irmak-HermanGMS vs. Irrometer Cal. Chart #3

100

90

80

70

60
Soil Tension (kPa)

50

(Irmak-Haman, Dotham Sandy Loam)

40 eqn 6:kPa = (R-0.380)/0.085

cal-chart #3
30

(Irmak-Haman, Astatula sandy soil

20 eqn 7: kPa = (R+1.109)/0.158

10

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Resistance (Ohms)

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 10
 resistance value corresponds to a higher soil tension value than it would in the standard loam soil. This compari-
son should serve to emphasize how important calibration in locals soils is for the best accuracy.

On-site calibration can be done by comparing the Watermark output to a tensiometer. Over time, this can be devel-
oped into a relation between the variables of resistance, temperature, and soil moisture tension, applicable to the
local situation. Even a few quick spot checks can fix a few points on the curve. Practical observation of plants
establish the critical points for irrigation. Local agricultural extension agents can help with advice about the opti-
mal level of irrigation for productivity and water usage of local crops in local soils.

There is variation from sensor to sensor, due to actual differences in moisture distribution and timing, or due to dif-
ferences in installation, or due to variation in the Watermark sensors themselves and their aging. * install multiple
sensors. • follow the Irrometer instructions for installation. • do reality checks on the sensors and reinstall sensors
on a rotating schedule. (

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 11
 Appendix 1: Technical information:

The power supply voltage is regulated at 3.3 volts DC by the micropower regulator. The power supply +
input can be as low as 4 volts and as high as 15 volts. Filter capacitors are provided for stability and
averaging of the supply current. The LMC555 timer operates in its direct feedback mode, with a square
wave on the totem pole output from pin 3 charging or discharging the 0.1 µf polyester film timing capaci-
tor through the network of fixed resistors in series/parallel with the moisture sensor. When the sensor is
dry, the 150kΩ resistor sets a minimum oscillator frequency of 50 hertz. When the sensor is wet, or a
short circuit, the 390Ω in series with the grid limits the upper frequency to about 13 khz. The current
through the sensing grid is AC. Nonpolar ceramic capacitors isolate the circuit from the sensor, to assure
that the average current is AC and to forestall galvanic interactions in the soil environment. The output
frequency is transmitted to the logger from the open collector DIS output pin, protected from miswiring by
the 100 Ω resistor. Normally a pullup resistor will be provided to give voltage transitions at the logger.
The current drawn by the circuit varies linearly with the frequency due to the charge and discharge cycles
of the 0.1¨F capacitor. The supply current is proportional to wetness, a voltage signal can be taken from
across the 1kΩ resistor. The quiescent current is trimmed by R3, the 53..6 kΩ resistor.

There will be a small AC component on the DC output signal, that can be averaged in software. A 10µf
capacitor in parallel with the output resistor will reduce the AC component to <5 millivolts.
The brown wire is the low impedance ouput of the oscillator. the blue wire is the high impedance input to
the comparator.

There is still an issue about how this circuit measures the resistance of the sensor, in comparison to the
Watermark standard meter, and in comparison with the Campbell CR10X + AM416 multiplexer that was
used to collect the data used to construct "chart #3". The Watermark meter uses a low frequency AC
half-bridge circuit, operating at around 100 hz. The CR10 + AN416 uses low voltage DC pulses a few
milliseconds long per reading, in a half bridge, isolated through reed relays. The SMX uses a complex
AC waveform at a frequency that varies from 50 hz (dry) to 10000 hz, (wet). We are still investigating
how much difference the readout method makes in the result. The sensor is not just a simple resistor,
but a chemical system with reactions and mobility of ions to take into account.

SMX rev 2, top view (component side)

blue sensor
blue, sensor
yellow, volts out
green, frequency out, open collector
red, power +3.5 to 15 volts
black, common

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 12
 Appendix 2: PBASIC Snippets to read the SMX and convert to kPa

' ---- routine to service an SMX module ----

' ---- enter with channel number for power and for the signal
' ---- return with the result, and result shown on terminal screen
getkPa1:
HIGH kPaPwr ' turn on the power to this SMX
INPUT kPaCh ' be sure this channel is an input
PAUSE 1000 ' allow reading to stabilize
ADch=kPaCh ' prepare to read this channel
GOSUB ADread ' do it, read voltage
LOW kPaPwr ' turn off the power to this SMX
GOSUB calcOhms ' calculate ohms from voltage
GOSUB tcompOhms ' temperature compensate ohms
GOSUB calcSWP ' calculate SWP in kPa from ohms
GOSUB showdec1 ' show the result with one decimal place
RETURN

' ---- lookup table, relating ohms to millivolts from SMX

ohms DATA Word 65535, Word 49152, Word 32768, Word 24576
DATA Word 16384, Word 12288, Word 8192, Word 6144
DATA Word 4096, Word 3072, Word 2048, Word 1536
DATA Word 1024, Word 768, Word 512, Word 384
DATA Word 256, Word 192, Word 128, Word 96
DATA Word 64, Word 48, Word 32, Word 24
mVs DATA Word 214, Word 218, Word 226, Word 234
DATA Word 250, Word 265, Word 295, Word 323
DATA Word 377, Word 427, Word 517, Word 596
DATA Word 726, Word 828, Word 980, Word 1089
DATA Word 1230, Word 1320, Word 1426, Word 1485
DATA Word 1552, Word 1588, Word 1625, Word 1645

' ---- routine to calculate ohms, given millivolts

' ---- looks up millivolts in the table and interpolates ohms
calcOhms:
' enter with millivolts from smx
IF mV<214 THEN ohms=65535 : RETURN ' the ohms is greater than 65535, clamp that
mV =mV MAX 1644 ' clamp maximum millivolts too
LOOKDOWN wx ' find position of millivolts in category
,<[0,218,226,234,250,265,295,323,377,427,517,596,726,828,980,1089,1230,1320,1426,1485,
1552,1588,1625,1645], cat
READ (cat-1)*2+mVs,Word ww,Word wz ' read lower and upper bound of category
wy = mV - ww ' position in catagory
ww = wz-ww ' width of catagory
FOR ix=7 TO 0 ' find the BS2 */ multiplier
wy = wy//ww<<1
wz0.BIT0(ix) = wy/ww
NEXT
READ (cat-1)*2+ohms,Word wy,Word ww ' read lower and upper bound of ordinate
wx = wy-((wy-ww)*/wz0) ' interpolate using */ multiplier
RETURN

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 13
 ' ---- temperature compensate the ohms reading
' ---- to the value the SMX would have at 75 degrees F
TcompOhms:
' enter with ohms in wx, soil degF in TFsoil
' Rx = (1 + 0.01*(TFsoil - 75)) * Rx Implements this formula
wx= (TFsoil*/655)-192+256 */ wx
RETURN

' ---- lookup table, relating SWP to ohms from SMX

' ---- the ohms values adjusted to 75 degrees F
ohms2 DATA Word 550,Word 1000,Word 1100,Word 2000
DATA Word 6000,Word 9200,Word 12200,Word 15575
DATA Word 28075
swp DATA 0,9,10,15
DATA 35,55,75,100
DATA 200

' ---- routine to calculate SPW in kPa, given ohms at 75 °F

' ---- looks up ohms in the table and interpolates kPa
calcSWP:
IF wx<550 THEN kPa=0 : RETURN ' don't bother, soil is saturated
ohms =ohms MAX 28074 ' maximum ohms for SWP determination
LOOKDOWN ohms ,<[0,1000,1100,2000,6000,9200,12200,15575,28075], cat
READ (cat-1)*2+ohms2,Word ww,Word wz ' find position in lookup tables
wy=ohms-ww ' position in category ' position of ohms wrt category
ww=wz-ww ' width of category
FOR ix=7 TO 0 ' find BS2 */ multiplier for wy/wx
wy=wy//ww<<1
wz0.BIT0(ix)=wy/ww
NEXT
READ (cat-1)+swp,wy,ww ' span of ordinate ' width of SWP category
kPa=wy*2+((ww-wy*2)*/wz0)*5 ' calc to 0.5 ' interpolation using */ multiplier
RETURN

END
' ===== end of snippets ====

The above program is meant to illustrate the principle, not to be a complete program. There are no variable decla-
rations, nor is there a main program. The variable names and the subroutine names and the comments are chosen to
be self-explanatory.

The linear interpolation process on the BASIC Stamp may appear strange, due to the integer math, but the process
is really very straightforward.

Please contact Eme Systems or look on the web site for more complete examples using the OWL2pe data logger,
and for further tutorial explanation of the integer math.

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 14
 Appendix 3--Online Resources on Soil Moisture:

www.emesystems.com/smx.htm

www.irrometer.com

http://www.sowacs.com/
The main clearinghouse for all aspects and techniques of soil moisture measurement
http://www.sowacs.com/archives/
Sowacs mail
archive--The mail list covers a wide range of questions and answers.
Moderated by Bruce Metelerkamp
http://www.sowacs.com/archives/98-02/msg00000.html
Resurrecting the Gypsum Block for Soil Moisture Measurement
http://www.sowacs.com/archives/01-02/msg00027.html
Sowacs-mea-gypsum block email

http://www.cropinfo.net/granular.htm
GMS Malheur OSU - Clinton Shock
Malheur experiment station at Oregon State University,
bibliography of experimental research

http://www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/water/swm/Calibration_Watermark2.htm
Watermark calibration
http://www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/water/swm/
Soil Water Management
http://www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/water/swm/WM_Hobo2.htm”
Watermark to HOBO data logger
Articles from Rick Allen at the University of Idaho
http://soil-physics.nmsu.edu/sp/tutorials/

http://www.hwr.arizona.edu/globe/train/smchanges.html
UArizona/GLOBE Soil Moisture Project
University of Arizona educational project on parameters of global environmental importance

http://www.mea.com.au/
Measurement Engineering Australia - Environmental Monitoring Systems
Articles by Andrew Skinner of Measurement Engineering
Australia (MEA), and a link to the company web site.
http://www.Delmhorst.com/
Delmhorst Instrument Company
www.soilmoisture.com
Soil Moisture Corporation
http://www.measure.com/how2measure.html
Remote Measurement Systems - Sensors and Techniques

©2002 EME Systems, 2229 Fifth St., Berkeley CA 94710...tel:(510) 848-5725 <www.emesystems.com> SMX v022008 pg 15