News and Articles

It has long been known that there is a strong relationship between soil water content and the health and yield of crops. But only in the past few decades has science quantified the specifics of these relationships. This research has expanded to develop a relationship between soil moisture levels and the impact on meteorological and hydrological models and forecasts.

Stevens introduces two new digital sensors with a smart mix of unique features and an attractive price point. The first in a line-up of rugged digital sensors, they offer built-in processing of measured data, eliminating the need to perform complex calculations to process the data for many applications.

On April 20, 2017 we hosted the first in a series of soil physics training webinars. Here is the recording of the session as well as the slide deck we used.

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Here are 7 questions and answers about using the Stevens HydraProbe.

Learn how to properly protect environmental monitoring equipment, and in particular the Stevens HydraProbe from damage due to lightning strikes.

The USDA's Introduction to Soil Surveys for Agronomic Use, entitled "From the Surface Down", is an introduction to soil types, horizons, and how they are measured. The intent of this publication is to increase user understanding of soils and acquaint them with the contents of a soil survey and supplemental interpretations that are important to agronomic programs.

The Urban Soil Primer is intended to give planning officials and people who live in urban areas an introduction to soils. It provides information important in planning and managing land resources in a manner that helps to prevent or mitigate problems associated with sedimentation, contamination, runoff, and structural failure. In non-technical language, this publication describes the basic processes and functions common to all soils.

Soil temperature data down to -30° Celsius is becoming more and more relevant to climate studies. While environmental issues fuel the development and the widespread use of sophisticated environmental models, reliable input data is becoming essential for researchers and modelers. The soil temperature data collected by the HydraProbe can be used in climate studies in arctic regions, regional energy budget calculations, drought forecasting and heat fluxes. It is the intent of Stevens Water Monitoring Systems to provide the scientific community a reliable and cost-effective soil temperature sensor to suit the needs of environmental researchers.

The Stevens HydraProbe can be calibrated to accommodate almost any inorganic soil regardless of clay content or organic matter. While the default calibrations are suitable for most soils, other published calibrations can be used to obtain a higher level of accuracy if specific textural information about the soil is available.

Over the past ten years, environmental monitoring has become increasingly important. Environmental factors such as climate change, dwindling water resources, and threatened habitats are driving the need to monitor the environment and implement better policies to protect it. Many natural processes in the environment are driven by or in some ways related soil hydrological processes. Monitoring soil moisture conditions provides important information for the protection and in the understanding of local and regional water resources. The Stevens HydraProbe soil sensor is the most advanced soil sensor commercially available and described below are application examples where the HydraProbe has been used to gather data.

When working with or studying the soil, it’s important to know what type of soil is being examined. Each type of soil has different characteristics, and will have different effects on water infiltration rates, water holding capacity, evapotranspiration rate, and other soil characteristics.

Soil sensors are one popular way of measuring soil moisture, salinity, temperature level, conductivity, and other characteristics that are important to researchers, farmers, and others who rely on soil data for their work.