Innovative installation of soil moisture sensors in an indoor gravel lysimeter

Aquifers of coarse gravel are an important source for drinking water; however, coarse sediments are also particularly susceptible to the rapid and long-range transport of pollutants through the vadose zone. Therefore, understanding the flow and solute transport in unsaturated gravel material is of utmost importance for the protection of drinking water resources. Experimental investigations of flow and transport processes are dependent on suitable sensor technology, but it is a considerable challenge to install soil moisture sensors in gravelly material. In this video, we show a novel method to install soil moisture sensors with minimal disturbance in a large lysimeter with undisturbed gravelly sedimentary material, based on drilling access cavities in frozen material.