A new technique for measuring soil temperatures

The measure of soil temperatures is generally achieved by implanting thermocouples at different depths. For the setting up of these thermocouples, and in order to resist the constraints of shearing, some rigid pegs were employed as supports. The utilization of these pegs, which are generally in metal, introduces some soil thermal perturbations. In order to minimize this kind of perturbation, a new technique of temperature measurements in soil is presented. The principle of this technique consists of replacing the peg by a removable stem which could be removed after setting up thermocouples in the soil. Apart from the thermal aspect, some mechanical tests of the new technical device are achieved. In order to notice the effects of the pegs, a qualitative study is carried out. It concerns, in particular, depths of 20, 30 and 50 cm and shows gaps in temperatures between the two techniques.