CS650 Bodenfeuchtesensor (30cm Stäbe)

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1. With the CS650 and the CS655, where is the water content measurement made?

   The volumetric water content reading is the average water content over the length of the sensor’s rods.

2. Can the CS650 rods be shortened?

   Campbell Scientific strongly discourages shortening the sensor’s rods. The electronics in the sensor head have been optimized to work with the 30 cm long rods. Shortening these rods will change the period average. Consequently, the equations in the firmware will become invalid and give inaccurate readings.

3. Is it necessary to purchase a DIN Rail Mounting Kit with a CS650 or a CS655?

   If a system has multiple CS650 or CS655 sensors, it will be necessary to connect many wires to a 12 V supply and many wires to ground. The DIN Rail Mounting Kit is useful for attaching many wires to the same source in a clean and organized way. For more details, see the 5458 DIN Rail Terminal Kit instruction manual. 

   Other methods of connecting several wires together, such as terminal strips or wire nuts, would also work.

4. Can the CS650 and the CS655 measure water content in compost?

   Campbell Scientific does not recommend using the CS650 or the CS655 to measure water content in compost. A compost pile is a very hostile environment for making dielectric measurements with soil water content sensors. All of the following combine to make it very difficult to determine a calibration function: high temperature, high and varying electrical conductivity, high organic matter content, heterogeneity of the material in the pile, changing particle size, and changing bulk density. The temperature and electrical conductivity values reported by the CS650 or CS655 may give some useful information about processes occurring in the compost pile, but these sensors will not be able to give useful readings for water content.  

5. Can the CS650 and the CS655 measure water content in frozen soil?

   No. The principle that makes these sensors work is that liquid water has a dielectric permittivity of close to 80, while soil solid particles have a dielectric permittivity of approximately 3 to 6. When liquid water freezes, its dielectric permittivity drops to 3.8, essentially making it look like soil particles to the sensor. A CS650 or CS655 installed in soil that freezes would show a rapid decline in its volumetric water content reading with corresponding temperature readings that are below 0°C. As the soil freezes down below the measurement range of the sensor, the water content values would stop changing and remain steady for as long as the soil remains frozen.  

6. Why is the permittivity reading NAN or 9999999 for the CS650?

   The CS650-series sensors have several logical tests built into their firmware to ensure that the sensors do not report a number that is known to be erroneous. Erroneous readings are either outside the sensor’s operational limits or outside of published accuracy specifications.

   A reported value of NAN or 9999999 does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with the sensor hardware. The conditions outlined below can lead to a value of NAN or 9999999 for permittivity and volumetric water content.

   SDI-12 communications issue

   If all of the following are true, there is likely an issue with the SDI-12 communications between the sensor and the data logger: the sensor is being polled with an M1! SDI-12 command, the permittivity value reported is NAN, and subsequent values are all zeroes or never change. Possible causes include the following:

   • The sensor is not powered. Check to make sure that the red wire is well connected to a 12 Vdc source and that the black wire is connected to data logger ground.
   • The sensor signal wire is not connected properly. Ensure that the green wire is well connected to the control port specified in the data logger program.
   • The sensor has an SDI-12 address that does not match the data logger program.
   • The sensor has cable or lightning damage.

   Calculated permittivity is less than 0 or greater than 88

   The equation used to convert period average and electrical conductivity values to permittivity is a three-dimensional surface with two independent variables and eleven coefficients, plus an offset. Some rare combinations of period and electrical conductivity result in a permittivity calculation that is less than air (1) or greater than water at 0°C (88). These rare combinations are not expected when the sensor is in soil. 

   Bulk electrical conductivity (EC) is greater than 1.14 dS/m

   When bulk electrical conductivity is greater than 1.14 dS/m, the solution EC is greater than 3 dS/m, which is the upper limit for accurate readings with the CS650. When this occurs, the soil is considered out-of-bounds and will report a value of NAN or 9999999 for both permittivity and volumetric water content.

   Calculated permittivity is less than 80% of the permittivity limit

   A permittivity limit based on the bulk electrical conductivity (EC) reading is used to determine whether the bulk EC at saturation exceeds the sensor’s operational limit. That permittivity limit is calculated and compared to the permittivity reading. If the measured permittivity is more than 20% beyond the permittivity limit, both permittivity and volumetric water content are reported as NAN or 9999999. This is the most common cause of NAN values with the CS650-series sensors, and it occurs because of the soil properties and not because of a sensor malfunction.

7. When is it more suitable to use a CS655 rather than a CS650?

   In soil that has a significant fraction of fines (loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, clay), the CS655 is a suitable option because these soils tend to be more electrically conductive, and the CS655 operates over a larger range of electrical conductivity than the CS650. In applications where a smaller measurement volume is desired, such as larger greenhouse pots, the 12 cm long rods of the CS655 are preferable to the 30 cm long rods of the CS650.

8. Can the cable length for a CS650 or a CS655 really be up to 2,000 ft?

   The cable properties and power requirements of the CS650 and the CS655 are such that communication with a datalogger may work for cable lengths greater than 2,000 ft. If multiple sensors are communicating through the same universal or control terminal, the total length of all of those sensors must not exceed 2,000 ft. 

   In practice, it is less expensive to purchase a new datalogger than to buy a CS650 or CS655 with 2,000 ft of cable. If the cable is run through conduit, or if a 2,000 ft long trench needs to be excavated, then the installation cost becomes more expensive than buying another data acquisition system and sensors with shorter cables.

9. Can the CS650 and the CS655 measure water content in gravel?

   Yes. Keeping the sensor rods parallel during installation is especially difficult in gravel, but it can be done. Gravel has large pore spaces that drain quickly, so the water content readings will likely show rapid changes between saturation and very dry. If small changes of water content at the dry end are of interest, a soil-specific calibration may need to be performed to convert period average directly to volumetric water content.

10. Can the CS650 and the CS655 detect stream bed erosion?

    The permittivity of saturated sediments in a stream bed is expected to read somewhere between 25 and 42, while the permittivity of water is close to 80. A CS650 or CS655 installed in saturated sediments could be used to monitor sediment erosion. If the permittivity continuously increases beyond the initial saturated reading, this is an indication that sediment around the sensor rods has eroded and been replaced with water. A calibration could be performed that relates permittivity to the depth of the rods still in the sediment.