Field capacity refers to the amount of water in soil after excess water has drained away by gravity. It typically occurs 2-3 days after rainfall or irrigation. There are three types of water in soil: gravitational, capillary, and hygroscopic. Factors like soil texture, structure, organic matter, temperature and depth of wetting influence field capacity. Field capacity is important for plant growth as it provides soluble nutrients and regulates soil temperature and microbial activity. It can be measured using pressure-based methods that determine water content at -33 kPa tension or flux-based methods using hydraulic conductivity functions.
2. FIELD CAPACITY OF WATER
• Field capacity (FC) is the amount
of soil moisture or water content
held in soil after excess water has
drained away and the rate of
downward movement has
decreased, which takes place
within 2-3 days after a rain or
irrigation in previous soil.
• The physical definition of (FC) is
the bulk water content present in
soil at −33 J/kg of the suction
pressure
• FC=(θFC/100)×RD
Levels of moisture in soil
3. TYPES OF WATER IN SOIL
• The Soil water is dynamic; removal of water occurs due
to drainage, evaporation, and transpiration and addition of
water occurs with dewdrops, rainfall, and irrigation .
• There are three types of water in soil.
1. GRAVITATIONAL WATER
2. CAPILLARY WATER
3. HYGROSCOPIC WATER
4. 1-GRAVITATIONAL WATER
• Amount of water that is
drained off due to pull of
gravity to join ground water
table .Larger soil particles
that don’t retain water in it
and perculates down due to
gravity.
• This water is not available
to the plants for growth
5. 2-CAPILLARY WATER
• Amount of water that is retained against the pull of gravity due to
surface tension.
• Capillary water is that water that is held in microspores of the
soil, and composes the soil solution because surface tension
properties (cohesion adhesion forces) of soil is much greater than
that of force of gravity.
• As the soil dries out, pore size increases and the capillary water
perculates down to gravitational water ,in this way capillary
water changes to gravitational water.
• Capillary water is the main water that is available to the plants as
it is trapped in soil solution right next to the roots of the plants.
6. 3-HYGROSCOPIC WATER
• Amount of water that is adsorbed on the surface of the soil
particles as a very thin film and strongly stick to the soil
grain. It is generally not available to the plants because water
is so tightly bound to the soil particles by adhesion properties
and very little amount of water is taken up by the plants.
• Hygroscopic water is found on the soil particles not within
the pores.
• Example: Clay
• Hygroscopic water is helpful for the growth of the plants.
7. HOW WATER IS RETAINED IN SOIL
• Water retention capacity of soil is due to
their colloidal properties and aggregation
qualities.
• The water is held on the surface of the
colloids and other particles and in the
pores. The forces responsible for retention
of water in the soil after the drainage has
stopped are due to surface tension and
surface attraction and are called surface
moisture tension.
• This refers to the energy concept in
moisture retention relationships.
• The force with which water is held is also
termed as suction.
• That’s why we say that smaller soil
particles retain more water as compared to
that of larger soil particles.
Water retention capacity of soil.
8. SOIL MOISTURE RELATIONSHIP (SATURATION CAPACITY)
• Amount of water present in soil
when all the soil particles are
filled with water.
• Larger soil particles don't retain
water and water perculates down
due to pull of gravity and join
gravitational water .Water retain
after this is field capacity
• Saturation Capacity=Ww/Ws
• Where
a) Ww is the weight of water
b) Ws is the weight of soil Soil water relation.
9. FIELD CAPACITY
• Weight of water retend in the soil after
gravitational water has drained off that is
the water exactly required by the plants
for their growth.
10. PERMANENT WILTING POINT
• Critical value below which root cannot extract enough moisture due
to increase in soil moisture surface tension. At this point water can’t
perculates out of soil because it is strictly adhere to the soil
particles.
• It is the point when there is no water available to the plants.
Permanent wilting point depends on the plant variety, but it is
usually around 1500 kPa (15 bars). At this stage, the soil
still contains some water, but it is difficult for the roots to extract
from the soil particles .
• If water is less than permanent wilting point plants wilt and growth
is stopped and plants die.
11. AVAILABLE WATER
• The amount of water actually available
to the plants for their growth.
• It is determined as field capacity minus
the water that will remain in the soil at
permanent wilting point.
• The available water content depends
greatly on the soil texture and structure.
• θAWC = θFC - θPWP
• Where
a) θAWC is maximum available moisture
content (%v/v)
b) θFCis the moisture content at field
capacity point (%v/v)
c) θPWP is the moisture content at
permanent wilting point(%v/v)
Different Level of water in Soil
12. READILY AVAILABLE WATER
• Amount of water that is easily available to the plants.
• Readily available =75% of the available water
• (Total water) Vv = Vwy/V + Vwr/V
• Where:
a) Vwy is the volume of the water yield that is lost in form of gravitational water
b) Vwr is the volume of the water retend in the soil particles and available to the plants
c) V is the total volume of the soil
d) Vv = Sy + Sr
e) Where Sy is specific yield ,Sr is specific retention
SPECIFIC YIELD (Sy)
• Ratio of the volume of the water yield to the total volume of the soil.
SPECIFIC RETENTION (Sr)
• Ratio of the volume of water retained against gravity to the total volume the soil.
13. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE FIELD
CAPACITY OF WATER
• The various factors that influence the water holding capacity
1) PREVIOUS SOIL WATER HISTORY
2) SOIL STRUCTURE
3) SOIL TEXTURE
4) TYPE OF CLAY
5) ORGANIC MATTER
6) TEMPERATURE
7) DEPTH OF WETTING
8) EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
9) SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT
14. PREVIOUS SOIL WATER HISTORY, SOIL
STRUCTURE , And SOIL TEXTURE
• A wetting soil and a drying soil hold different amounts of
water. A soil that is saturated and then dries has a higher field
capacity than a soil that is being wetted.
• Soil structure has direct relation to the amount of water it
contain.
• The smaller the soil particles , greater will be water retention
capacity of soil. Clay has more water holding capacity than
sand. Smaller soil particles (clay) have more pores or capillary
spaces so they have high water holding capacity. Larger soil
particles (sand) have few capillary spaces so they have less
water holding capacity
15. TYPE OF CLAY and ORGANIC MATTER
• The higher the content of montmorillonite, greater is the
amount of water retained in it. Montmorillonite is a type
of clay, a very soft group of minerals that form when
they precipitate from water solution as microscopic
crystals.
• Soil organic matter helps in retaining water. Organic
matter aids in cementing particles of clay, silt, sand that
aggregates into substance which increases the water
holding capacity. Decomposition of organic matter add
essential nutrients in the soil which are helpful for the
growth of pants.
16. TEMPERATURE and EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
• Temperature influences the amount of water held,
particularly if the soil has been previously wetted. The
amount of water retained at field capacity decreases as the
soil temperature increases. This results in increased runoff
from a watershed as soil warms and water retention
capacity of the soil decreases.
• Combination of water that is lost from the soil through
evaporation and transpiration through plants as a part of
their metabolic process. The rate and pattern of extraction
of water by plant roots from soil can affect the gradients
and flow directions in the profile
17. DEPTH OF WETTING
• Wetter the profile is at
the outset greater is the
depth of wetting and
greater is the extraction
of water by plants roots
from the soil can affect
the flow of gradients.
And at field capacity ,
the soil is wet and
contain all the water it
can hold.
18. SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT
• Soil moisture content
indicates the amount of soil
present in water present in
soil. It is commonly
expressed as amount of soil
present in depth of 1m of a
soil.
• Example: when amount of
water (in mm of water depth)
of 150mm in a depth of of 1m
of a soil, soil moisture content
is 150mm/m.
19. IMPORTANCE OF FIELD CAPACITY
• Soil water serves as a solvent and water is up to field capacity it
act as carrier of food nutrients for plant growth.
• The yield of a crop is more often determined by the amount of
water available rather than the deficiency of other food nutrients.
• Soil water regulates soil temperature.
• Microorganisms require water for their metabolic activities.
• Field capacity of water helps in chemical and biological
activities of soil.
• Water is essential for photosynthesis and plants can synthesize
the organic matter if water is supplied to the plants upto field
capacity.
20. ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS TO DETERMINE THE
FIELD CAPACITY
• Saturate the soil profile to the depth under study by
adding excess of irrigation water.
• Minimize the evaporation losses from the surface.
• Eliminate the transpiration losses by working on non-
cropped fields.
• Select the plots containing uniform and free draining
soil.
• Observe the time rate of decrease in moisture content.
21. METHODS OF MEASURING FIELD
CAPACITY
There are various methods of measuring field
capacity of water but two methods are mainly
described.
1)Pressure based method.
2)Flux based method.
22. 1.PRESSURE-BASED METHOD
• Pressure based method
was introduced by
Richard and Weaver to
estimate the field capacity
to determine with a soil
water content at a matrics
potential of -33kPa.
• For Pressure based
method , Field capacity is
determined by retention
curve method.
Water retention curves for sand clay
and loam
23. 2. FLUX –BASED METHOD
• From the Flux based method, the field capacity
can be estimated from the unsaturated soil
hydraulic conductivity function with a
predefined negligible free drainage flux.
• With the unsaturated soil hydraulic
conductivity under the field capacity
conditions.