Correcting the error in neutron moisture probe measurements caused by a water density gradient

Abstract

If a neutron probe lies in or near a water density gradient the probe may register a water density different to that at the measuring point. The effect of a thin stratum of soil containing an excess or depletion of water at various distances from a probe in an otherwise homogeneous system has been calculated producing an 'importance' curve. The effect of these strata can be integrated over the soil region in close proximity to the probe resulting in the net effect of the presence of a water density gradient. In practice the probe is scanned through the point of interest and the count rate at that point is corrected for the influence of the water density on each side of it. An example shows that the technique can reduce an error of 10 per cent to about 2 per cent.