Chapter

Soil Water

From Introduction to Soil Science by Amber Anderson and Rivka Fidel

Concepts

1. Water Held

   "Soil water is water held in the unsaturated zone above the groundwater table. Hydrogen bonding creates adhesion between water and soil particles and cohesion among water molecules, producing capillar

2. Water Potential

   "Water potential measures the ability of water to do work and indirectly indicates how available it is to plants. It includes matric potential from attraction to soil particles, osmotic potential from

3. Plant-available Water

   "Plant-available water is the difference between the water content at field capacity and the water content at the permanent wilting point. Field capacity is the water remaining after gravitational dra