The soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) is of fundamental importance for understanding the characteristics and behavior of unsaturated soil. Recent improvements in measuring suction provided the ability to make fast, accurate SWCCs in the lab but sample throughput drastically limits the number that can be produced. Collocating matric suction and water content sensors in situ would add many more SWCCs to the knowledge base. The objective of this study is to determine how well in situ generated SWCCs using a new, calibrated matric sensor compare to those created in the lab. Field and lab SWCCs compared quite well, but a few factors reduced their agreement. In coarser textured soils, living roots caused a divergence as the soil suction increased. Not surprisingly, intact core samples compared more favorably than disturbed. In finer textured soils, comparisons were favorable, but were also affected when laboratory samples were disturbed. Data suggest collocated in situ sensors could provide an important augmentation to laboratory data for developing a wide range of SWCCs.
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