A portable micro-penetrometer for measuring seed row compaction

Abstract The soil mechanical properties of a seedbed have significant influence on the emergence and early root growth of crops. A portable micro-penetrometer unit was designed and built at Universite Laval for field studies of soil resistance to coleoptile and radicle growth. The unit consists of 11 sleeve-type probes placed 10 mm apart and fitted with 2.5 mm diameter cone tips. An electronically controlled hydraulic system can push the probes into the soil at five different speeds. A datalogger is used to control the operation and to sample penetration resistance and depth. Satisfactory performance was observed during field experiments. The designed probe load sensor showed a high accuracy of penetration resistance measurement with a relative error of less than 0.6%. No interaction between adjacent probes was detected during the experiments. The effect of penetration rate seems negligible with these sleeve-type probes.

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