Disc Permeameter Testing

Arthursleigh Farm, Marulan, June 2002

Here I am, an awful side on shot, so take a look at the disc permeameter instead. Can you see the bubbles rising up through the column of water? We measured how much the water column dropped over specified periods of time. The permeameter is sitting on a bed of sand to ensure the entire disc is in contact with the ground. The water tension is provided by the water level in the smaller column.

Here is our postdoctoral scientist, Cheryl. She's in the process of taking a sample for the bulk density determination of the soil.

The soil core sample is actually in the shiny metal corer and stays in the corer during the entire test.

Here are a couple of people from the University of Western Sydney trying to work out how to cut out the blocks of soil so we can transport them back to the laboratory. Our blocks will be about 10 times bigger than their trial block they cut out on this occasion.

Here's Nanda (a PhD student related to our project but funded separately) resting in the back of the ute. She was pretty cold because she forgot to take a jacket!! It may not look cold because the sun was out, but believe me there was a chilly wind blowing through!!

Here I am taking more readings of the disc permeameter. It looks like my glasses are about to slip off my nose!

Another pic of Nanda, this time labelling up our soil samples. Don't those dry scotch thistles look lovely? hehe