## 2 Materials and Methods
### Study Sites and Soil Characteristics
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & & & **Thickness Clay** & **Silt** & **Sand** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Tex.** \\ **Class** \\ \end{tabular} & **OLM 1** & \(\rho_{\text{b}}\) & **pH-** & **EC** & **TOC** & **TN** & **CEC 2** \\ \hline
**Plot** & **Layer** & **cm** & & **\%** & & **USDA** & **kg m-2** & **kg m-3** & **-** & **\#US cm-1** & **g kg-1** & **g kg-1** & **cmol kg-1** \\ \hline
**WIJ** & OFH & 8.6 & - & - & - & - & 11.95 & 139 & 3.82 & - & 414.4 & 20.0 & 21.9 \\  & M01 & 10 & 3.3 & 24.8 & 71.9 & SL & - & 1256 & 3.65 & 56.2 & 35.6 & 2.9 & 7.1 \\  & M12 & 10 & 3.8 & 23.8 & 72.4 & SL & - & 1335 & 3.24 & 64.5 & 18 & 1.2 & 8.9 \\  & M24 & 20 & 3.6 & 21.5 & 74.9 & LS & - & 1306 & 3.51 & 54.6 & 16.9 & 1.0 & 5.0 \\  & M48 & 40 & 5.9 & 21.9 & 72.2 & SL & - & 1505 & 3.83 & 41.9 & 10.1 & 0.7 & 4.3 \\ \hline RAV & OFH & 8.7 & - & - & - & - & 14.04 & 161 & 3.72 & - & 340.7 & 12.3 & 21.9 \\  & M01 & 10 & 1.5 & 11.1 & 87.4 & S & - & 1453 & 3.76 & 169.2 & 18.9 & 0.7 & 1.35 \\  & M12 & 10 & 0.7 & 11.9 & 87.4 & S & - & 1429 & 3.85 & 142.7 & 21.3 & 0.6 & 4.7 \\  & M24 & 20 & 3.0 & 12.0 & 85.0 & LS & - & 1478 & 4.12 & 48.2 & 12.8 & 0.6 & 1.6 \\  & M48 & 40 & 1.4 & 12.4 & 86.2 & S & - & 1536 & 4.30 & 34.8 & 3.7 & \textless{}0.5 & 2.6 \\ \hline BRA & OFH & 7.4 & - & - & - & - & 11.10 & 150 & 3.93 & - & 392.5 & 14.0 & 18.3 \\  & M01 & 10 & 2.0 & 5.9 & 92.2 & S & - & 1376 & 3.87 & 31.0 & 17.2 & 0.8 & 3.75 \\  & M12 & 10 & 1.8 & 5.9 & 92.3 & S & - & 1443 & 4.05 & 26.5 & 11.3 & 0.5 & 1.7 \\  & M24 & 20 & 1.0 & 6.2 & 92.8 & S & - & 1474 & 4.00 & 20.3 & 8.7 & \textless{}0.5 & 2.6 \\  & M48 & 40 & 1.6 & 5.4 & 93.0 & S & - & 1512 & 4.24 & 20.6 & 3.5 & \textless{}0.5 & 2.5 \\ \hline GON & OFH & 5.3 & - & - & - & - & 9.37 & 177 & 4.39 & - & 302.5 & 15.3 & 24.2 \\  & M01 & 10 & 9.5 & 50.6 & 39.9 & SIL & - & 1128 & 3.71 & 99.6 & 52.6 & 3.0 & 13.4 \\  & M12 & 10 & 11.0 & 48.2 & 40.8 & L & - & 1367 & 3.78 & 90.7 & 17.9 & 1.2 & 8.8 \\  & M24 & 20 & 24.5 & 46.1 & 29.4 & L & - & 1416 & 3.90 & 68.1 & 10.5 & 0.6 & 9.4 \\  & M48 & 40 & 47.5 & 36.6 & 15.9 & C & - & 1441 & 4.24 & 53.8 & 5.7 & 0.5 & 14.9 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Physico-chemical soil properties of the study plots. For the distinct soil layers of the three profiles (A, B, C) per site, soil water retention curves (SWRCs) were fitted according to the Van Genuchten model ([PERSON], 1978) based on water retention measurements (Sand/Kaolin box and membrane pressure plates from Eijkelkamp equipment, The Netherlands) of undisturbed samples taken at the time of FDR sensor installation in each layer. Table 2 lists the parameters residual water content (\(\theta_{\rm r}\)), saturated water content (\(\theta_{\rm s}\)), air entry (\(\alpha\)) and pore size distribution (n). From these SWRCs we derived field capacity (\(\theta_{\rm fc}\)) for sandy soils (WIJ, RAV and BRA) at a potential of \(-\)10 kPa and for the silt loam to clay soils (GON and HOE) at \(-\)31.6 kPa. Permanent wilting point \(\theta_{\rm pwp}\) was determined at \(-\)1584 kPa. The difference between both predicts available water capacity.