Numerical Analysis on Averaging Soil Thermal Properties along a Dual-Probe Heat-Pulse Probe.

Dual-probe heat-pulse (DPHP) techniques have been popularly used to measure thermal properties and water content of soil and other materials. For a field use, water distribution in soil where a DPHP probe is inserted is usually not uniform. Since thermal properties depend on soil water content, non-uniformity of water distiribution in soil may affect thermal transfer; thus, thermal properties.  Averaging thermal properties along a DPHP probe is investinated using the finite element method. The limitation of arithmatic mean will be provided.