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The authors gratefully thank Atuc Tuli, Jan Hopmans, Jim Wagner, Mark Hausner, and Christine Hatch for their very helpful conversations about this method. We also wish to express our appreciation to Water Resources Research reviewers, Editor, and Associate Editor for their valuable suggestions and comments concerning this manuscript. We acknowledge the National Science Foundation (grants NSF-EAR-0930061, NSF-EAR-07115494) and the Oregon Experiment Station for their critical financial support.

Analysis of institutional authors

Gil-Rodriguez, MariaAuthor

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Feasibility of soil moisture monitoring with heated fiber optics

Publicated to:Water Resources Research. 46 (W06201): - 2010-06-01 46(W06201), DOI: 10.1029/2009WR007846

Authors: Sayde, Chadi; Gregory, Christopher; Gil-Rodriguez, Maria; Tufillaro, Nick; Tyler, Scott; van de Giesen, Nick; English, Marshall; Cuenca, Richard; Selker, John S.;

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Abstract

Accurate methods are needed to measure changing soil water content from meter to kilometer scales. Laboratory results demonstrate the feasibility of the heat pulse method implemented with fiber optic temperature sensing to obtain accurate distributed measurements of soil water content. A fiber optic cable with an electrically conductive armoring was buried in variably saturated sand and heated via electrical resistance to create thermal pulses monitored by observing the distributed Raman backscatter. A new and simple interpretation of heat data that takes advantage of the characteristics of fiber optic temperature measurements is presented. The accuracy of the soil water content measurements varied approximately linearly with water content. At volumetric moisture content of 0.05 m(3)/m(3) the standard deviation of the readings was 0.001 m(3)/m(3), and at 0.41 m(3)/m(3) volumetric moisture content the standard deviation was 0.046 m(3)/m(3). This uncertainty could be further reduced by averaging several heat pulse interrogations and through use of a higher-performance fiber optic sensing system.

Keywords

CapacityFieldFlowFluxPulse probe measurementsSensorsThermal-propertiesTime-domain reflectometryTransportWater-content

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Water Resources Research due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2010, it was in position 2/76, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Water Resources.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 25.63, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-07, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 125
  • Scopus: 198
  • OpenCitations: 184

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-07:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 166 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Netherlands; United States of America.