Design and Construction of a Small Scale Combined Weighing and Non-Weighing Lysimeter

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the consumptive use of water leaf (Talinum triangulare) on a constructed small scale combined weighing and non-weighing Lysimeter. This study considered the design and construction of a small scale lysimeter that combined the characteristics of a weighing and non-weighing. The main components of the lysimeter facility are mild steel, load cell, Arduino nano, micro secure digital (Micro SD) card, liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, real time clock (RTC) with model DS1307, moisture sensor, inner cylinder and outer cylinder. The installation depth of 0.4572 m with a known rectangular floor was constructed to house the outer cylinder height of 167.8 mm with a diameter 309.4 mm, inner cylinder height of 355.6 mm with a diameter 304.8 mm and a hole of 2 mm perforated at the bottom of the inner cylinder for easy drainage. The results on the data logged shows how much water is required for plant root extraction at various irrigation rates. The combined weighing and non-weighing lysimeter serve the purposes of determining the soil-water balance and water consumptive use of crops.