An outdoor tutorial

Follow this tutorial to make a survey measurement. Be sure to go through Initial setup and An indoor tutorial first.

1. Install the soil collars

Select a unbiased and representative locations for your measurements. Install the soil collar, as described in Using soil collars.

2. Set up the measurement

In the PC Software:

Click the Chamber button (Ctrl+M).

Under Port Setup > Chamber:

  • Select the chamber you have connected
  • Soil Area: 80.1 cm2 for 8100-102; 317.8 cm2 for 8100-103.
  • Chamber Offset: Enter the offset.

Under Port Setup > Observation:

  • Treatment Label: It will be included in your data record.
  • Observation Length: 40 to 60 seconds.
  • Dead Band: 30 seconds is fine for the tutorial.
  • Observation Count: 5 is fine for the tutorial.
  • Pre-purge: 0 seconds.
  • Post-purge: 0 seconds.

In the App:

Tap Setup > Measurement Protocol:

  • Set Measurement Type: Chamber
  • Obs. Length: 40 to 60 seconds
  • Dead Band: 30 seconds is a good starting place.
  • Obs. Count: 5
  • Pre-Purge: 0 seconds.
  • Post-Purge: 0 seconds.
  • Additional Log Fields: Set to all unless you have limited data storage space.

Under Area and Volumes:

  • Chamber Offset: Enter the offset.
  • Soil Area: Select the 10 cm or 20 cm collar.
  • Chamber Volume: Select your chamber.

3. Place the chamber over the collar

Gently set the chamber on the collar. Insert the soil temperature probe and/or soil moisture probes at the desired depths and distances from the chamber.

4. Start the measurement

In the PC Software:

Click Start Measurement:

  • Preset: Leave at Current Setting
  • Measurement File: Enter a file name and choose whether to create a new file or append an existing file.
  • Comments: Comments are recorded in the file header.
  • Set the Destination; either the instrument memory or the CompactFlash card.
  • Measurement Start: Set to Start Immediately.

In the App:

Tap Start Measurement:

  • File Name: Enter a name.
  • Comments: Enter comments.
  • Chamber Offset: Enter the offset.
  • Treatment Label: It will be included in your data record.
  • Log To: Instrument memory or CompactFlash.
  • Start At: Start immediately
  • Repeat Meas.: Number of times to repeat.

5. Transfer the files

When you're done, you'll want to transfer the data to a computer. See Transferring data from the LI-8100A for details.

6. Get the most from your data

Although the results computed by the LI-8100A will be fairly accurate if you set up the measurement correctly, you should always evaluate the computation in SoilFluxPro software and recompute the results to get the most precise results possible.