Design, construction and installation of large soil core lysimeters

This paper describes the collection, installation and use of large undisturbed soil monolith lysimeters to study nutrient leaching under field conditions. Yellow-brown soil and fluvo-aquic soil, two typical soils in Hubei Province, Central China were selected to collect sixteen undisturbed soil monolith lysimeters and installed at a field facility in Huazhong Agriculture University. This design was developed to minimize disturbance of the soil core and use petrolatum to prevent edge flow. The lysimeters were 630mm in external diameter and 700 mm in depth and made of PVC pipe of 10 mm wall thickness. The soil-filled cylinder was removed and set on a prefabricated base, which had drain holes and a fitting for attachment of the collection device. Leachate was collected and analysed for water quality. The results showed that there was no difference between the lysimeters in terms of drainage rate and no edge flow was detected. This design has been shown to be efficient and cost-effective.