{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T11:29:25Z","timestamp":1787916565512,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,26]],"date-time":"2017-12-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1514246400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009207","name":"AgriFutures Australia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009207","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Multisensor capacitance probes (MCPs) have traditionally been used for soil moisture monitoring and irrigation scheduling. This paper presents a new application of these probes, namely the simultaneous monitoring of ponded water level, soil moisture, and temperature profile, conditions which are particularly important for rice crops in temperate growing regions and for rice grown with prolonged periods of drying. WiFi-based loggers are used to concurrently collect the data from the MCPs and ultrasonic distance sensors (giving an independent reading of water depth). Models are fit to MCP water depth vs volumetric water content (VWC) characteristics from laboratory measurements, variability from probe-to-probe is assessed, and the methodology is verified using measurements from a rice field throughout a growing season. The root-mean-squared error of the water depth calculated from MCP VWC over the rice growing season was 6.6 mm. MCPs are used to simultaneously monitor ponded water depth, soil moisture content when ponded water is drained, and temperatures in root, water, crop and ambient zones. The insulation effect of ponded water against cold-temperature effects is demonstrated with low and high water levels. The developed approach offers advantages in gaining the full soil-plant-atmosphere continuum in a single robust sensor.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s18010053","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,26]],"date-time":"2017-12-26T11:13:23Z","timestamp":1514286803000},"page":"53","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Multisensor Capacitance Probes for Simultaneously Monitoring Rice Field Soil-Water-Crop-Ambient Conditions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0721-2458","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James","family":"Brinkhoff","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Regional and Rural Futures Deakin University, Hanwood 3217, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0714-6646","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"John","family":"Hornbuckle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Regional and Rural Futures Deakin University, Hanwood 3217, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Dowling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Goanna Telemetry Systems, Goondiwindi 4390, Queensland, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-2113(06)90002-9","article-title":"Advances in crop water management using capacitive water sensors","volume":"90","author":"Fares","year":"2006","journal-title":"Adv. Agron."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2017, October 11). Sentek EnviroSCAN Probe. Available online: http:\/\/www.sentek.com.au\/products\/enviro-scan-probe.asp."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"(2017, October 11). EnviroPro Soil Probes. Available online: http:\/\/www.enviroprosoilprobes.com\/."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Charlesworth, P. (2005). Soil Water Monitoring, Land & Water Australia."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"57","DOI":"10.1007\/s002710050001","article-title":"Evaluation of capacitance probes for optimal irrigation of citrus through soil moisture monitoring in an entisol profile","volume":"19","author":"Fares","year":"2000","journal-title":"Irrig. Sci."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1576","DOI":"10.2136\/sssaj1997.03615995006100060006x","article-title":"Real-time soil water dynamics using multisensor capacitance probes: Laboratory calibration","volume":"61","author":"Paltineanu","year":"1997","journal-title":"Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1048","DOI":"10.2136\/vzj2006.0009","article-title":"Laboratory characterization of a commercial capacitance sensor for estimating permittivity and inferring soil water content","volume":"5","author":"Schwank","year":"2006","journal-title":"Vadose Zone J."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"947","DOI":"10.1071\/AR03076","article-title":"Low temperature induced spikelet sterility in rice. II. Effects of panicle and root temperatures","volume":"54","author":"Gunawardena","year":"2003","journal-title":"Crop Pasture Sci."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"927","DOI":"10.1071\/EA9940927","article-title":"Deep floodwater protects high-nitrogen rice crops from low-temperature damage","volume":"34","author":"Williams","year":"1994","journal-title":"Aust. J. Exp. Agric."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1071\/EA9840104","article-title":"Growth, grain yield and water use of rice grown under restricted water supply in New South Wales","volume":"24","author":"Heenan","year":"1984","journal-title":"Aust. J. Exp. Agric."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"(2017, December 09). Rice Growing Guide 2016\u201317, Available online: https:\/\/www.dpi.nsw.gov.au\/__data\/assets\/pdf_file\/0007\/178171\/rice-growing-guide-2016-17.pdf."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1626\/pps.8.242","article-title":"Water saving in rice-wheat systems","volume":"8","author":"Humphreys","year":"2005","journal-title":"Plant Prod. Sci."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"878","DOI":"10.1071\/CP13412","article-title":"Nitrogen timing and rate effects on growth and grain yield of delayed permanent-water rice in South-Eastern Australia","volume":"65","author":"Dunn","year":"2014","journal-title":"Crop Pasture Sci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"328","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fcr.2009.06.010","article-title":"Yield potential and water use efficiency of aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Japan","volume":"113","author":"Kato","year":"2009","journal-title":"Field Crops Res."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Tward, E., and Junkins, P.D. (1982). Multi-Capacitor Fluid Level Sensor. (No. 4,417,473), U.S. Patent."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2013.08.017","article-title":"Integrated soil moisture and water depth sensor for paddy fields","volume":"98","author":"Xiao","year":"2013","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ifacol.2016.10.027","article-title":"Rice Cultivation Support System Equipped with Water-level Sensor System","volume":"49","author":"Kawakami","year":"2016","journal-title":"IFAC-PapersOnLine"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Brinkhoff, J., and Hornbuckle, J. (2017, January 4\u20136). WiField, an IEEE 802.11-based Agricultural Sensor Data Gathering and Logging Platform. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Sensing Technology, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICSensT.2017.8304434"},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Jones, E., Oliphant, T., and Peterson, P. (2017, December 09). SciPy: Open Source Scientific Tools for Python. Available online: https:\/\/www.scipy.org\/."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) (2015). World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, International Soil Classification System for Naming Soils and Creating Legends for Soil Maps (Update 2015), FAO. World Soil Resources Reports 106."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"Hornbuckle, J.W., and Christen, E. (1999). Physical Properties of Soils in the Murrumbidgee and Coleambally Irrigation Areas, CSIRO Land and Water."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compag.2017.03.018","article-title":"A pragmatic, automated approach for retroactive calibration of soil moisture sensors using a two-step, soil-specific correction","volume":"137","author":"Gasch","year":"2017","journal-title":"Comput. Electron. Agric."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Larson, P., and Runyan, C. (2017, December 16). Evaluation of a Capacitance Water Level Recorder and Calibration Methods in an Urban Environment. Available online: http:\/\/www.umbc.edu\/cuere\/BaltimoreWTB\/pdf\/TM_2009_003.pdf."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/18\/1\/53\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:55:38Z","timestamp":1760208938000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/18\/1\/53"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,26]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,1]]}},"alternative-id":["s18010053"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s18010053","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,26]]}}}