Estimation of Spatial Variability of Soil Profile Using Hydraulic Operated Real Time Dual Sensor Based Integrated System

The spatial variability of the soil profile was estimated using a newly developed sensor-based integrated system which mainly comprised a frame, probe, depth sensor, hydraulic cylinder, display, GPS, control panel, and data acquisition system. The accuracy and validation of the developed sensor were authenticated with the standard methods. The study was conducted in sandy loam and loamy soil, implementing various tillage methods at varying depths and grid sizes. There was a nonsignificant difference among the two methods of measurements of compaction and a significant difference in electrical conductivity measurement with the developed sensor and laboratory methods in both types of soil. The mean accuracy of the developed sensor was found to be 95.22% and 73.93% in measuring soil compaction and electrical conductivity, respectively. The soil compaction and electrical conductivity were significant between both types of soil in all three tillage treatments at all three levels of depth and nonsignificant in all three grid sizes. A substantial correlation was observed between soil compaction and electrical conductivity in both types of soil. The overall results after field evaluation concluded that it was feasible to adopt the newly developed dual soil sensor to create a reliable monitoring system in geotechnical soil profile investigations.