UMS HYPROP User manual

User Manual
© UMS GmbH München
Art. no. HYPROP
Version 01/2010
Author: an/tk/mn
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Table of content
1HYPROP system 5
1.1 Safety instructions and warnings 5
1.2 Content of delivery 6
1.3 Foreword 7
1.4 Expression of thanks 7
1.5 Intended use 9
1.6 Guarantee 9
2Process summary 10
3Product description 11
3.1 System components 11
3.2 Sensor unit 11
3.2.1 Main body 11
3.2.2 Pressure transducers 12
3.2.3 Tensiometers 13
3.2.4 Temperature sensor 14
3.2.5 Plug connector 14
3.3 Sampling ring 15
3.4 Software tensioVIEW®15
4Get ready to start a measuring campaign 16
4.1 Soil samples 17
4.1.1 Take soil samples 17
4.1.2 Saturate the samples 17
4.2 Filling 18
4.2.1 Important cautions 18
4.2.2 Introduction 20
4.2.3 Refilling with the HYPROP service kit 20
4.2.3.1 Degassing the ceramic tip and tensiometer shaft 22
4.2.3.2 Degas the sensor head 26
4.2.3.3 Reassemble the HYPROP sensor head 28
4.2.4 Filling with vacuum pump 31
4.2.5 Check the HYPROP 32
4.3 Attach the sampling ring 33
4.3.1 Auger the Tensiometer holes 33
4.3.2 Assemble sensor unit and sampling ring 34
5Set-up the HYPROP 36
5.1 Connect the system components 36
5.1.1 Connect sensor units 37
5.1.2 Connect the scale 38
5.2 Software tensioVIEW®39
5.2.1 Menu 39
5.2.1.1 Find devices 39
5.2.1.2 Single device mode 39
5.2.1.3 Multiplexed devices mode 39
5.2.2 Device window 40

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5.2.2.1 Properties 40
5.2.2.2 Configuration of a device 40
5.2.2.3 Configuration settings for HYPROP 42
5.2.3 Refilling window 44
5.2.4 Current readings 45
5.2.5 Stored readings 45
5.3 Add the scale 46
6Perform a measuring campaign 48
6.1 Starting conditions 48
6.2 Measuring campaign window 50
6.3 Configure the campaign 51
6.4 Estimate the initial water content 54
6.5 Zero offset 55
6.6 Perform the measurement 56
6.6.1 Single unit mode and multiplex device mode 56
6.6.2 Start of a measuring campaign 56
6.6.3 Constant starting conditions 56
6.6.4 Start of a spontaneously measurement 57
6.6.5 Current status of the measurement 57
6.6.6 Measurements in the „Singel device mode“ 58
6.6.6.1 Multiplexed devices mode 59
6.6.7 Interrupt a measuring campaign 60
6.6.8 End of a measuring campaign 61
6.6.9 Removal of the soil sample 61
6.6.10 Estimate the soil dry weight 61
6.7 Evaluation of readings 62
6.8 Calculation and Fitting 63
6.9 Export readings and calculations 64
6.10 Typical Results for different soio (after a data export) 66
Trouble shooting 67
8Service and maintenance 69
8.1 Testing 69
8.2 Check the HYPROP 69
8.2.1 Calibration 69
8.2.2 Check the Offset 70
8.3 Cleaning 70
8.4 Storage 70
9Theoretical basics 71
9.1 Evaporation method (overview) 71
9.2 Discrete data for retention and conductivity relation 71
9.3 Retention and conductivity functions 72
9.3.1 The van Genuchten/Mualem modell 73
9.3.2 The bimodal van Genuchten/Mualem Model 73
9.3.3 The Brooks and Corey Model 74
9.4 Optimization of the parameter 74
10 Additional notes 75

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10.1 Extended measuring range 75
10.1.1 The bubble point of the porous cup 75
10.1.2 The vapour pressure of water 75
10.1.3 Boiling retardation: 76
10.2 Vapour pressure influence on pF/WC 77
10.3 Osmotic effect 77
11 Appendix 78
11.1 Parameter list 78
11.1.1 Input 78
11.1.2 Output 79
11.1.3 Parameter listing and describtion of the .csv table: 80
11.2 Technical specifications 81
11.2.1 Wiring configuration 82
11.3 Accessories 83
11.3.1 HYPROP extension and Accessories 83
11.3.2 Service kit 84
11.4 Units for soil water and matrix potentials 84
12 List of literature 85
13 Table of figures 86
14 Index 87
Your addressee at UMS 92

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1 HYPROP system
Laboratory evaporation method according to WIND/SCHINDLER for
the determination of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and water
retention characteristics of soil samples.
1.1 Safety instructions and warnings
Electrical installations must comply with the safety and EMC
requirements of the country in which the system is to be used.
Please note that any damages caused by users are not covered by
warranty.
Tensiometers are instruments for measuring the soil water tension,
soil water pressure and soil temperature and are designed for this
purpose only.
Please be aware of the following warnings:
High pressure: The maximum non destructive pressure is
300 kPa = 3 bar = 3000 hPa. Higher pressure, which might occur
for example during insertion in wet clayey soils or during refilling
and reassembling, will damage the pressure transducer!
Ceramic cup: Do not touch the cup with your fingers. Grease,
sweat or soap residues will influence the ceramic's hydrophilic
performance.
Freezing: Tensiometers are filled with water and therefore are
sensitive to freezing! Protect Tensiometers from freezing at any
time. Never leave Tensiometers over night inside a cabin or car
when freezing temperatures might occur!
Do not use a sharp tool for cleaning the threads in the sensor unit.
Just rinse it with pure water from a spray bottle.

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1.2 Content of delivery
The delivery includes:
Sensor unit
Sensor unit connecting cable
Soil sampling ring, 250 ml
Silicone gasket
Set of Tensiometer shafts, 2 each 50 mm and 25 mm
Service kit for refilling incl. refilling tools (syringes, sensor unit
filling attachment etc.), distilled water, auger kit, all in blue case
35 x 30 x 8 cm
Perforated saturation attachment
6 pcs. filter fabric, 15 cm x 15 cm
tensioVIEW®software on CD
tensioLINK®USB converter
tensioLINK®T-piece junction plug
9 V mains power supply unit
Scale*
* only included in the starter set HYPROP-SW
For available accessories see chapter “Accessories”.
Fig. 1: Content of delivery

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1.3 Foreword
Measuring systems must be reliable and durable and should require
a minimum of maintenance to achieve target-oriented results and
keep the servicing low. Moreover, the success of any technical
system is directly depending on a correct operation.
At the beginning of a measuring task or research project the target,
all effective values and the surrounding conditions must be defined.
This leads to the demands for the scientific and technical project
management which describes all quality related processes and
decides on the used methods, the technical and measurement tools,
the verification of the results and the modeling.
The continuously optimized correlation of all segments and its quality
assurance are finally decisive for the success of a project.
So please do not hesitate to contact us for further support and
information. We wish you good success with your projects.
Yours,
Georg von Unold
1.4 Expression of thanks
Dr. Uwe Schindler was able to considerably simplify the evaporation
method by WIND by analyzing the evaporation process and the
spatiotemporal decrease of water content inside the sample during
the evaporation process. The results of surveys of more than 2000
samples became part of German and international soil data bases
(HYPRES, UNSODA) and were basis of many scientific studies.
List of referring publications:
1. Schindler, U. (1980): Ein Schnellverfahren zur Messung der
Wasserleitfähigkeit im teilgesättigten Boden an
Stechzylinderproben. Arch. Acker- u. Pflanzenbau u. Bodenkd.,
Berlin 24, 1, 1-7.
2. Schindler, U.; Bohne, K. and R. Sauerbrey (1985): Comparison
of different measuring and calculating methods to quantify the
hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soil. Z. Pflanzenernähr.
Bodenkd., 148, 607-617.
3. Schindler U., Thiere, J., Steidl, J. und L. Müller (2004):
Bodenhydrologische Kennwerte heterogener Flächeneinheiten-
Methodik der Ableitung und Anwendungsbeispiel für
Nordostdeutschland. Fachbeitrag des Landesumweltamtes.

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H.87. Bodenschutz 2. Landesumweltamt Brandenburg.
Potsdam. 55 S.
http://www.brandenburg.de/cms/media.php/2320/lua_bd87.pdf
4. Schindler, U., Müller L. 2006. Simplifying the evaporation
method for quantifying soil hydraulic properties. J. of Plant
Nutrition and Soil Science. 169 (5). 169.623-629.
Mr. Andre Peters, in his dissertation at the Institute for Geoecology of
the Technical University Braunschweig, headed by Prof. Dr.
Wolfgang Durner, has scientifically examined the theoretical
principles of the calculation method and improved the method to be
more precise. Furthermore, he developed the software SHYPFIT 2.0
to adapt the retention and conductivity functions to the measured
data, and implemented it in the HYPROP calculation software.
The thesis is documented in following publications:
1. Peters, A., and W. Durner (2008): Simplified Evaporation Method
for Determining Soil Hydraulic Properties. Journal of Hydrology,
under review.
2. Peters, A., and W. Durner (2007): Optimierung eines einfachen
Verdunstungsverfahrens zur Bestimmung bodenhydraulischer
Eigenschaften, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen
Gesellschaft, im Druck.
3. Peters, A., and W. Durner (2006a): Improved estimation of soil
water retention characteristics from hydrostatic column
experiments, Water Resource. Res., 42, W11401,
doi:10.1029/2006WR004952.
4. Peters, A. und W. Durner (2006b), SHYPFIT 2.0 Users Manual,
Internal Report. Institut für Geoökologie, Technische Universität
Braunschweig.
5. Peters, A., and W. Durner (2005): Verbesserte Methode zur
Bestimmung der Retentionsfunktion aus statischen
Säulenexperimenten, Mitteilungen der Deutschen
Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft. 107, 83-84.
6. Peters, A., and W. Durner (2007): Optimierung eines einfachen
Verdunstungsverfahrens zur Bestimmung bodenhydraulischer
Eigenschaften, Tagung der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen
Gesellschaft, Dresden, 2-.9.September 2007. URL:
http://www.soil.tu-bs.de/pubs/poster/2007.Peters.Poster.DBG.pdf
.

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Sincere thanks are given to them for their support in the
development and for the numerous theoretical discussions and
practical advice. This helped to turn the method into a reliable
system with both, high accuracy and repeatability and excellent user
friendliness.
The technical and scientific high-lights of the HYPROP system are
the interactive graphical menu, the automatic offset correction and
the fitting routines according to Peters and Durner (2006b). Thus,
your HYPROP system is an extraordinary high tech soil laboratory
system.
1.5 Intended use
The intended use of the HYPROP system is the measurement and
determination of water retention characteristics and unsaturated
hydraulic conductivity as a function of water tension or water content
in a soil sample.
1.6 Guarantee
UMS gives a guarantee of 12 months against defects in manufacture
or materials used. The guarantee does not cover damage through
misuse or inexpert servicing or circumstances beyond our control.
The guarantee includes replacement or repair and packing but
excludes shipping expenses. Please contact UMS or our
representative before returning equipment. Place of fulfillment is
Munich, Gmunder Str. 37, Germany!

Process summary
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2 Process summary
1. Preparation of sample and hardware
1.1. Fill HYPROP sensor unit(s) and Tensiometer shafts
1.2. Take samples with soil sampling rings
1.3. Saturate the soil samples
1.4. Drill the holes for the Tensiometer shafts
1.5. Place the sampling ring on the sensor unit
1.6. Connect the sensor unit to the PC
1.7. Connect the scale to the PC
2. Configuration of the tensioVIEW software
2.1. Add the scale
2.2. Define your measuring campaign
2.3. Select file and sample name(s)
2.4. Optionally select units and intervals
2.5. Optionally enter initial water content or select „automatically“
2.6. Select model and soil type
3. Execute the measurement campaign
3.1. Start the measurement, data is stored from this point
3.2. Wait for constant starting conditions
3.3. Set the starting line as soon as tension readings are constant
3.4. Weigh the samples in intervals, every 12 to 48 hours depending
on soil type
3.5. When one of the Tensiometers runs dry make the final weighing
and stop the campaign
4. Evaluation
4.1. Determine the dry weight and enter it into the „Dry weight“ input
box
4.2. Set the stop line to the point just before the first Tensiometer
runs dry
4.3. Fit
5. Data export