Soil moisture plays an important role in studying engineering, agronomic, geological, ecological, biological and hydrological characteristics of the soil mass. Currently, the applicability of soil moisture measurement techniques to the soils of entirely different characteristics and types of moisture content is still a point of debate, no matter where the measurement conducts, either in laboratory or in situ conditions. The advantages and disadvantages of the established and emerging soil moisture measurement techniques are discussed.The limitations and the influences of various soilspecific parameters on the measured soil moisture content are reviewed. Meanwhile, in the meteorological department of China, based on the technique of Frequency Domain Reflectometry, three models, including DZN1, DZN2 and DZN3, are developed. From the beginning of 2009, in the automatic meteorological observation operation of soil moisture in China, the devices performed stablely, and the measurement accuracy and data quality can meet the needs of operation and service. With respect to automatic observation operation in China, this paper provides some reference proposals for operational construction and accurate measurement.