Please note: This is a Sole Source Notification. Specifications include, but are not limited to: Commodity or commodities to be purchased (make, model, description): 40837 SATURO Infiltrometer. Includes carrying case, control unit, infiltrometer head, 2 collapsible water containers, tubing, 2 insertion rings with strike plate, USB cable power cord; Our recent $10m award for the USDA Climate Smart Partnerships project requires monitoring and verification from improved agricultural practices in MS and AR. Part of the environmental services provided by climate-smart agriculture is improved infiltration as described in our proposal. In order to quantify infiltration, infiltrometers are required. Since infiltration is a highly variable parameter, methods that reduce measurement variability are required in order to quantify small differences due to management practices. The Saturo units have the lowest variability of all infiltration methods due to the fact that the process is automated and provides a constant head of pressure (i.e., a constant head infiltrometer, as opposed to a dynamic head infiltrometer). A dynamic head changes the amount of water pressure applied to the soil surface as a function of head height, thus increasing measurement variability. A constant head removes those differences and allows for more precise measurements. In addition, the automation eliminates human error during determination of head height.
