The evaluation of agronomic instrumentation to determine soil water content is very important for scientific research. Regardless of the technique in use, it is important that the soil water content is determined easily and quickly for the determination of the function K(theta), e.g. With the objective of comparing the performance of the equipments neutron probe and TDR with a tensiometer at determining variations in the soil water content and the values of soil hydraulic conductivity obtained from the soil water retention curve, an experiment was installed on an Udox (Oxisol) in Piracicaba, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Thirty tensiometers, three access tubes for neutron probes and 15 TDR sensors were installed in a 7.07 m² area for this purpose. The instantaneous profile procedure was used, analyzing depths of 0.70 and 1.00 m, considering the tensiometer as standard equipment. The obtained data showed that the TDR presented the most similar data performance to the one obtained by the tensiometer at a depth of 0.70 m, while the neutron probe proved to be more efficient to determinate the soil water content and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at a depth of 1.00 m.
soil hydraulic properties; soil water; drainage
