What is Water content?
'''Water content''' means the amount of [[water]] present in a [[wikt:porous|porous]] substance, such as [[soil]]. This term is used in [[hydrogeology]], [[soil science]] and [[soil mechanics]]. In saturated [[groundwater]] [[aquifer]]s, all available spaces are filled with water. Above a [[capillary fringe]], pore spaces have air in them too. Gaps between soil particles are called ''pore spaces'' or ''voids''. These voids contain various amounts of either water or [[air]]. Soil moisture content can be expressed in different basis: *Gravimetric: the mass of water/mass of solid material *Volumetric: the volume of soil/total porosity The amount of void space within a soil depends on the distribution of particle sizes, and is quantified by soil [[porosity]]. Soil moisture is the water stored in soil from after [[rainfall|rain]] or melted snow soak into the ground. This water can be used by plants in a process called [[evapotranspiration]] or it can continue to move deeper into the ground to become part of the [[groundwater]] in a process called groundwater recharge. ==Related pages== * [[Humidity]] {{sci-stub}} [[Category:Water|Content]] [[Category:Soil]]