What’s your time worth?
Digging trenches and reaching down boreholes to try and eliminate air gaps take an incredible amount of a researcher’s time and effort. Manual installation is rife with opportunities for human error. That’s why we created the TEROS Borehole Installation Tool.
Save time on installation. Get better data.
Accurate soil moisture measurement requires precise installation. If installation isn’t done right, no matter how well you calibrate, your data will be bad.
Minimize site disturbance to reduce labor and improve sensor data
The TEROS Borehole Installation Tool was specifically engineered for faster and more accurate water content sensor installation. Trenching disrupts soil pores, creating air gaps and preferential flow paths, which impacts any soil sensor’s ability to accurately measure volumetric water content. Using only a small 10 cm (4 in) hand-augered hole instead of a large trench, you can perform a deeper down-hole installation with little site disturbance and far less effort, inserting your sensors directly into minimally-disturbed soil at the exact depth you intend to measure.
The installation tool includes the equipment needed to reach depths up to 2 m, but additional extensions allow for reach to substantially deeper installations—even as deep as 10 m.
Do more with one tool
The new design allows for the installation of most TEROS sensors, including the TEROS 10, 11, and 12 soil moisture sensors and the TEROS 21 matric potential sensor. The TEROS Borehole Installation Tool includes adaptors designed to hold each sensor securely as it is pushed into the soil and released seamlessly once placed. Also included is an adaptor designed to create the pilot hole required to insert the TEROS 21 at the optimal angle. Use it for incredibly fast, consistent installation into undisturbed soil at almost any depth you choose.
Less wiggle room for error
Good soil-to-sensor contact is necessary for an accurate water content measurement. Voids between sensor needles and the surrounding soil can fill with air or water, significantly impacting the sensor reading. The TEROS Borehole Installation Tool was engineered to ensure accurate installation by eliminating air gaps and preferential flow. Because it uses mechanical leverage vs. hand application, sensors are applied straight in and perpendicular with uniform pressure (even through hard clay soils) and then gently released, resulting in clean, consistent installations. To reduce error even more, we included a plate guide that allows you to set the precise placement depth and alignment sensors at 4 spots around the borehole circle. These make documenting sensor locations easy for quicker removal and cable protection. With the TEROS Borehole Installation Tool, you can not only get a greater quantity of measurements but also be confident that each sensor has been installed correctly.
Smaller holes = less headaches
Like all of our instruments, greater accuracy comes with less effort on your part. Since the TEROS Borehole Installation Tool can install sensors at borehole depths much farther than the arm can reach, the entire process only takes about 30 minutes (vs. the two or more hours it takes to dig an equally deep trench). It’s also equipped with a flashlight so you can not only see down holes, but also make sure you get good insertions. All of which adds up to substantial time savings and less hassle.
Smarter water content sensor installation
Intensive field installations are now a thing of the past thanks to the TEROS Borehole Installation Tool’s fast, simple, and accurate insertion method. Custom manufactured by hand, this ultra-rugged instrument was engineered to provide easier, faster, and better sensor installation at greater depths, making installation something you can look forward to rather than dread.
