Use of a Dielectric Sensor for Salinity Determination on an Extensive Green Roof Substrate

The irrigation of extensive green roofs with recycled or saline water could contribute to the conservation of valuable drinking water supplies. In such cases, the continuous monitoring of substrate electrical conductivity (ECsw) is of immense importance for the sustainable growth of the plants growing on the green roof. The present study aimed to estimate the ECsw (pore water EC) of an extensive green roof substrate in lysimeters with the use of the WET-2 dielectric sensor. Half of the 48 lysimeters that simulated extensive green roofs had a substrate depth of 7.5 cm, while the other half had a 15 cm substrate depth. The warm season turfgrass Paspalum vaginatum 'Platinum TE' was established at the lysimeters, and during the summer period, it was irrigated every two days at a rate of 14 mm with NaCl solutions of various electrical conductivities (ECi): (a) 3 dS m(-1), (b) 6 dS m(-1), and (c) 12 dS m(-1), while potable water of 0.3 dS m(-1) ECi served as the control. The relation between bulk electrical conductivity, & sigma;(b), and bulk dielectric permittivity, & epsilon;(b), of the substrate was observed to be linear for all ECi levels up to & sigma;(b) values of 2-2.5 dS m(-1). The ECsw was predicted by employing the salinity index method which was modified to be applied to the particular case of a green roof substrate. Knowing the salinity index and organic portion (%, v/v) for a given green roof substrate, we could calculate the ECsw. It was found that the use of the salinity index method predicts reliably the ECsw up to 10-11 dS m(-1), while the method overestimates ECsw at very low levels of electrical conductivity.

Automated summary

The irrigation of green roofs with recycled or saline water can help save valuable drinking water. Monitoring the substrate electrical conductivity (ECsw) is crucial for the sustainable growth of plants on green roofs. This study estimated the ECsw of an extensive green roof substrate using the WET-2 dielectric sensor. The use of the salinity index method reliably predicted the ECsw up to 10-11 dS m(-1), but overestimated it at very low electrical conductivity levels.