Abstract. Bulk electrical conductivity of soil, ecB_TDR, determined using attenuation-based TDR measurements disagreed with reference data, ecB_ref. determined using the four-electrode reference method. To explain this discrepancy it was assumed that there exist more reasons other than the soil ecB that cause the pulse attenuation. Fitting a polynomial to the ecB_ref (ecB_TDR) relationship made the TDR attenuation-based method applicable for the determination of the soil bulk electrical conductivity.