Development of moisture monitoring technology

China's water resources are relatively scarce, with a per capita share of about 2,000 cubic metres, far below the global average of 28 per cent. Since the founding of the State, the frequency of droughts in China has been rising, and the area affected by drought has been expanding year by year. According to statistics, the frequency of mild droughts is as high as 90 per cent, moderate droughts account for 60 to 70 per cent, and severe droughts reach 25 to 30 per cent. These droughts have had a serious impact on agricultural production and people's livelihoods.

Therefore, the implementation of soil moisture monitoring to accurately grasp the moisture status of farmland soils and the water shortage of crops is crucial for taking timely countermeasures to reduce the threat of drought. This is of great significance in guaranteeing the safety of our plantation production and national food security.

Soil moisture monitoring stations have the ability to track soil moisture, i.e. the water content in the soil, in a continuous and real-time manner. In order to meet the needs of different users, the monitoring station allows the flexibility of setting sensors at different depths of the soil, thus enabling detailed observation of the moisture content of different soil layers. This customised monitoring method can accurately capture the subtle changes in soil moisture at the monitoring point, providing timely and accurate data support for drought mitigation work.

With the advancement of science and technology and the improvement of demand, soil moisture monitoring technology has experienced remarkable development. From the early drying and weighing method to the electrical resistance method using soil electrical conductivity, to the time domain method (TDR) using the difference in propagation speed of electromagnetic waves, etc., the evolution of these technologies marks the leap from laboratory to practical application and realises the enhancement from a single method to a comprehensive system.