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Soil moisture content

Moisture content of soil in % of dry weight.

The volumetric soil moisture content or simply soil moisture content is defined as the volume of water that can be removed from a volume of soil by drying the soil at 105°C. It may be expressed as a percentage or a fraction. The porosity of the soil (the relative volume of pores in a soil sample) represents the maximum soil moisture content.

Water content can be tested according ASTM D 2216-92 by determining the mass of the wet soil specimen and then drying the soil in an oven 12 - 16 hours at a temperature of 110°C. Values can vary from essentially 0% (near surface rubble, gravel or clean sand) up to 1200% (organic soil like fibrous peat).

Symbol
$\nu_{soil}$
Unit
$\%$

Default
7.0

Used in
$C_{v,soil}$
Heat capacity of a unit volume of soil [J/(K.m$^3$)]
$\delta_{soil}$
Soil thermal diffusivity [m$^2$/s]
$k_4$
Thermal conductivity of soil [W/(m.K)]