Roadbed monitoring

We understand how hard it is to stay ahead of roadbed failures that start underground and move fast. Moisture-related pavement damage isn’t just expensive—it’s dangerous. Shifts in soil water content, suction, and salt concentration beneath the surface can compromise structural integrity long before visible signs appear. That’s why METER brings decades of expertise to help you stay ahead of risk with continuous, research-grade monitoring of soil moisture and water potential beneath roadways. Our solutions also track salt movement via electrical conductivity, giving you the clarity to act early—before cracks become costs.

Roadbed moisture
Weather monitoring
Salinity

Roadbed moisture

Surface failures start below ground. When water infiltrates beneath the road, it doesn’t just disappear—it drives erosion, frost heave, and structural breakdown. To keep roads safe and stable, you need to know exactly how much water is falling, absorbing, and lingering beneath the surface. METER delivers research-grade monitoring of precipitation, soil moisture, and retention dynamics—giving you the data to model risks like flooding and frost damage before they impact performance. Integrated with analysis tools, this insight empowers engineers to take proactive action and extend the life of critical infrastructure.

Volumetric Water Content

Soil suction/water potential

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Weather monitoring

Local weather drives long-term roadbed performance. Don’t leave it to chance. Temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation all impact soil behavior, material performance, and construction safety. METER’s weather monitoring solutions deliver continuous, site-specific data on air temperature, barometric pressure, vapor pressure, wind speed and direction, and more—so you can predict how environmental conditions will affect your materials and your roadbed’s long-term durability. Track critical water-related variables like solar radiation, precipitation, and precipitation electrical conductivity to stay ahead of erosion, frost, and water infiltration risks.

Air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, vapor pressure, wind speed, direction, and gust, solar radiation, precipitation, precipitation EC

ATMOS 41W Z
ATMOS 41 Gen 2 Z

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Salinity

Salt protects roads—but can quietly destroy what’s beneath them. De-icing agents keep roads safe, but they also introduce long-term risks: corrosion, structural degradation, and environmental damage. Understanding how salts move through water and soil is critical for protecting infrastructure—and everything downstream. METER’s salinity monitoring solutions provide continuous, research-grade measurements of electrical conductivity (EC) in both precipitation and soil moisture. This data helps you mitigate damage from salts and chemicals, inform maintenance strategies, and support efforts to protect groundwater, nearby vegetation, and aquatic systems from harmful runoff.

Water salinity and depth

HYDROS 21 Z

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ZL6 Data Logger next to a tablet and several screenshots. the tablet and screenshots show data visualizations from ZENTRA Cloud software

ZENTRA System

Customize your data collection and logging solution by combining multiple METER sensors with the ZL6 Data Logger and ZENTRA Cloud. ZENTRA stores your data in the cloud, allowing easy access to your data and near-real-time reports from all of your data loggers.

Avoid costly field visits by accessing your data from any web-connected device. Analyze it with ZENTRA Cloud’s built-in visualization tools, and easily share insights without tracking down log files on individual computers.

Learn more about ZENTRA

"One great thing about working with METER Group is you understand that there are these standards out there, and often you are part of writing the standard."

Senior Adjunct Research Fellow Michael Forster, PhD | Griffith University, Queensland, Australia

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