Environment Knowledge Base

Step-by-step instruction guide for performing METER soil moisture sensor calibrations

Expertise library7 min read

Soil Moisture—6 Common Oversights That Might Be Killing Your Accuracy

Even one small oversight, such as poor installation, can compromise accuracy by up to +/-10%. How can you ensure your data represent what’s really happening at your site?

Expertise library5 min read

HYPROP how-to videos

4 short videos teach you what you need to know to become a HYPROP wizard.

Expertise library20 min read

5 Ways Site Soil Disturbance Impacts Your Data—And What To Do About It

Site disturbance matters—and there are ways to reduce its impact on soil moisture data. Find out what installation techniques and best practices can set you up for success.

Expertise library7 min read

Grow your expertise

We want you to be wicked good at what you do. Discover an entire library of articles that teach the science behind the measurements, so you can sharpen your expertise.

Case studies

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The staggering cost of Montana’s flash drought

The 2017 flash drought that parched the entire state of Montana and most of South Dakota, severely impacted the profitability of ranchers and farmers. In western Montana, fires burned some of the largest acreages in recent history.

Case studies5 read time

Soil Science in Outer Space

In 2007, METER scientists developed a Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) probe for NASA’s Phoenix Scout Mission, which landed on Mars May 25, 2008. The solar-powered lander collected data for five months until the sunlight waned, ice took over, and communication ceased.

Case studies10 read time

Feed the world
Maximize yield. Minimize waste.

As water resource management grows more complex, the cost of water increases and humanity’s food consumption soars to an all-time high, optimizing crop yields through efficient irrigation is becoming crucial.

Case studies6 read time

Wasatch Plateau
Only the strong survive.

Climate change models predict earlier snowmelt and rainstorms that will be less frequent and more intense. What does this mean for the Utah Wasatch Plateau?

Case studies5 read time

Education guides

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Weather Monitoring Master Class

Accurate weather information is critical for understanding experimental results or modeling—and if you’re just guessing—you’ll be in trouble when it comes time for publication. You need data you can trust.

Education guides105 min read

MASTER CLASS: The Ultimate Guide to Measuring Soil Hydraulic Properties

Six short videos teach you everything you need to know about soil infiltration and measuring saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity.

Education guides150 min read

Growing Degree Day (GDD) models—The complete guide to better accuracy

Six short videos—everything you need to know about how to nail your GDD predictions.

Education guides45 min read

Soil electrical conductivity: The complete guide to measurements

Irrigated land accounts for 40% of our food supply, and salts impact yields on about one-fifth of those acres.

Education guides35 min read

We're all about the science

Crush your experimental goals. Our webinars and podcasts feature scientists who understand the complexity of what you’re trying to accomplish and can help you succeed.

Webinars

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Choosing the Right Water Potential Sensor in 2023

If you’re not measuring water potential, or not measuring it correctly, your data could be telling you the wrong thing. Water content measurements can only tell you so much, and inferring water potential from water content is inaccurate at best, and completely misleading in worst-case scenarios.

Webinars5 min watch

Part 2: How to Interpret Soil Moisture Data

To get the most out of your data, you need to know how to interpret unexpected occurrences in your data set.

Webinars45 min watch

Water Resource Capture: Turning Water Into Biomass

As world water demand increases and supplies decrease, how can we turn more of the water we use for agriculture into biomass?

Webinars45 min watch

Radiation Resource Capture: Are You Leaving Yield On The Table?

Four resources need to be plentiful within a crop’s environment to increase biomass: CO₂, water, nutrients, and PAR. In this webinar, Dr. Campbell dives deep into the measurement and implications of PAR.

Webinars45 min watch

Podcast

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Episode 25: Dissolving the Boundaries Between Specializations

25 years ago Drs John Norman and Gaylon Campbell co-authored An Introduction to Environmental Biophysics. Their ability to work across disciplinary lines brought new understanding to countless scientists and taught us how to conduct better research through collaboration.

Podcast 39 minutes

Episode 24: Building a National Water Potential Network

Champions of water potential, Drs. Kim Novick and Jessica Guo, team up to discuss the vital role water potential measurement plays in both plant and soil sciences and the work they are doing to establish the first-of-its-kind nationwide water potential network.

Podcast 49 minutes

Episode 23 - The Power of Soil Health in Sustainable Agriculture

Dr. Dedrick Davis is an Assistant Professor in Soil Physics at Alabama A&M University. He obtained his PhD in Soil Science and Environmental Science from Iowa State University,and his teaching expertise is in soil physics and soil hydrology.

Podcast 45 minutes

Episode 22 - Breeding the Most Elite Winter Wheat

Dr. Arron Carter, professor and O.A. Vogel Endowed Chair of Wheat Breeding and Genetics at Washington State University, discusses breeding improved wheat varieties for cropping systems in Washington state that incorporate diverse rotations and environments.

Podcast 50 minutes

Your questions—answered

Learn which measurement method is right for your application, best practices, and more in these live Q&A sessions with our science and product experts.

Office Hours Live Q&A

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Office Hours 6: Soil Water Potential Measurement Methods

In this Office Hours Q & A session, join research scientist Leo Rivera and application expert Chris Chambers as they tackle your toughest water potential measurement questions.

Office Hours Live Q&A45 min watch

Office Hours 5: Soil Water Content Measurement Methods

Learn which soil water content measurement method is right for your application in this live Q&A session with our science and product experts.

Office Hours Live Q&A50 min watch

Office Hours 4: Soil Moisture Release Curves

Learn soil moisture release curve measurement methods, best practices, applications, and more in this live Q&A session with our science and product experts.

Office Hours Live Q&A40 min watch

Office Hours 3: Weather Data