### Soil and Plant Moisture Monitoring **Moisture mapping** involves studying the spatial and temporal variations in soil moisture to get insights into water movement and storage in the soil. It helps in understanding the plant-water relationship and managing irrigation systems. ### How do you monitor moisture in soil? There are a wide array of methods used to monitor soil moisture: - **Tensiometers:** Measure soil water potential, which is a measure of how tightly water is bound to the soil particles. - **Soil moisture sensors:** Measure the volumetric water content of the soil, typically using capacitance, resistance, or time-domain reflectometry (TDR). - **Neutron probes:** Measure the water content by emitting neutrons and detecting the number that are reflected back by hydrogen atoms in the soil. - **Lysimeters:** Collect and measure the amount of water that drains from the soil, providing an indirect measure of soil moisture. - **Remote sensing:** Uses satellites or aircraft to measure soil moisture indirectly by capturing changes in vegetation cover, surface temperature, and other parameters.