## 5 Conclusions  
The experimental study contributes to the assessment of the performance of the TEROS 21 sensor, a capacitance-based water potential sensor, in measuring the soil matric suction and temperature in clayey soils. Laboratory tests were conducted to measure the suction level and temperature of the soil samples with different water contents, the results of which were compared with those obtained using different and more established techniques.  
The findings demonstrated that both the suction value and equilibrium time depend on the initial state of the sensor (wet or dry) and the magnitude of the suction to be logged. However, since the measurements carried out involve a specific range of water content of the soil specimens (i.e., from 20% to 40%), further investigation is necessary to assess the sensor's performance in lower (<20%) and higher (>40%) water content conditions. Although this study did not examine different soil types, the results suggest that the soil type and the meso-structure features are expected to play a relevant role in suction determination.  
Despite the issues identified in the use of the TEROS 21 in the laboratory, it is believed that this probe remains a valuable tool for field measurements due to its wide suction range (up to 100,000 kPa), low maintenance requirements, and rapid data acquisition.  
The laboratory testing highlighted the increasing scattering in the measurements at higher suction levels, which users should consider when interpreting logged data, particularly for highly retentive soils. Additionally, the use of the TEROS 21 in the field would also mitigate issues related to defining an appropriate soil volume for suction measurements.  
Overall, the quantitative findings of this study contribute to a better phenomenological understanding of monitoring data in both laboratory and field settings. These insights are particularly relevant for research on soil-vegetation-atmosphere (SVA) interactions, where transient water and energy exchange processes play a crucial role. Given the influence of the equilibrium time on the coupled water content and suction measurements, it is essential to account for time lags required to reach hydraulic equilibrium and the hysteretic behavior of soil under wetting and drying cycles. This is particularly important when sensors start from different dry or wet configurations, ensuring the accurate interpretation of soil state variables.  
Conceptualization, N.S., V.T. and O.B.; methodology, N.S.; software, N.S.; validation, N.S., V.T., O.B. and F.C.; formal analysis, N.S.; investigation, N.S. and V.T.; resources, N.S.; data curation, N.S.; writing--original draft preparation, N.S.; writing--review and editing, N.S., V.T., O.B. and F.C.; visualization, N.S.; supervision, V.T., O.B. and F.C.; project administration, F.C.; funding acquisition, F.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the MIUR PON R&I 2014-2020 program (project MITIGO, ARS01_00964), and project PNRR, MISURA M4_C2_1,4, National Centre for HPC, Big Data and Quantum Computing (CN_00000013 CUP: D93C22000430001)--Spoke 5 \"Environment and Natural Disasters\".  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.  
**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to express their gratitude to [PERSON], who contributed to the research activities presented in this paper.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.