A comparison of the use of radar images and neutron probe data to determine the horizontal correlation length of water content

Author(s):  
Rosemary J. Knight ◽  
James D. Irving ◽  
Paulette Tercier ◽  
Gene J. Freeman ◽  
Chris J. Murray ◽  
...  
Irriga ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
Reginaldo Ferreira Santos ◽  
Reimar Carlesso

INFLUÊNCIA DA TEXTURA E PROFUNDIDADE DO SOLO NA CALIBRAÇÃO DA SONDA DE NÊUTRONS   Reginaldo Ferreira SantosDepartamento de Engenharia Rural - UNESP, CP: 237 - CEP:18603 970, Botucatu, SP Reimar CarlessoDepartamento de. Engenharia da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, - UFSM, Campus Universitário, CEP: 97119 900, Santa Maria - RS  1 RESUMO A sonda de nêutrons é um equipamento usado na determinação do conteúdo de água do solo baseado no espalhamento e atenuação de nêutrons rápidos. Para tanto, há necessidade de calibração no campo e, conseqüentemente, verificar a influência da textura e da profundidade do solo e determinar as curvas de calibração em relação ao conteúdo de umidade. O trabalho foi desenvolvido na Universidade Federal de Santa Maria em um conjunto de lisímetros, protegidos das precipitações pluviométricas com plástico transparente. Foram usados três solos de diferentes texturas e quatro repetições e em três profundidades (10, 30 e 50 cm) a partir da superfície do solo. Foram determinadas as equações de regressão lineares entre as contagens propiciadas pela sonda e o conteúdo de umidade do solo respectivos pelo método gravimétrico. Os resultados demonstraram que houve interferência da textura e da profundidade do solo, analisados conjuntamente, nas curvas de calibração, sendo que os valores observados e os estimados variaram entre 0,02 e 0,06 cm3/ cm3 do conteúdo de água do solo e os coeficientes de correlação foram 0,86, 0,95 e 0,89 para os solos de textura argilosa, franco-argilo-siltoso e franco-arenoso, respectivamente. Já para os fatores textura e profundidade dos solos, analisados separadamente, as diferenças entre os valores observados no campo e os estimados, variaram entre 0,0 e 0,02 cm31cm3 do conteúdo de água do solo e apresentaram coeficientes de correlação entre 0,97 e 1,0. UNITERMOS: sonda de nêutrons. umidade do solo. textura e profundidade do solo  SANTOS, R.F., CARLESSO, R. Soil texture and depth influence on the neutron probe calibration   2 SUMMARY  The neutron probe is an equipment used on determination of the soil water content, based on the fast neutron attenuation. Therefore, there is a calibration need in the field and, consequently, to verify the soil texture and depth influence for to determining the calibration curves in relation to the water content. The study was developed at Santa Maria's Federal University in a lisímeter group, protected from the rains with transparent plastic. Three different soil textures, three depths (10, 30 and 50 cm from the soil surface) and four replicates were used. Linear regression equations between neutron counts and soil water contents were made. The results showed that there was interference of the texture and depth of the soil, analyzed jointly, on the calibration curves, and the observed and estimated values varied from 0,02 to 0,06 cm3 / cm3 of the soil water content and the correlation coefficients were 0,86, 0,95 and 0,89 for clayay, franc-silt-clayay and franc-sandy, respectively. For soil texture and depth, analyzed separately, the differences among the values observed in the field and the estimated ones, varied from 0,0 to 0,02 cm3/cm3 soil water content and presented correlation coefficients between 0,97 and 1,0. KEYWORDS: neutron probe, soil water content, soil texture and depth.


1998 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
PIARA SINGH ◽  
J. L. MONTEITH ◽  
K. K. LEE ◽  
T. J. REGO ◽  
S. P. WANI

During rainless weather following a monsoon, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor cv. SPH–280) was grown on a Vertisol either unirrigated throughout growth or irrigated for 7 weeks after emergence and rainfed thereafter. Before sowing, ammonium sulphate was applied at six rates from 0 to 150 kg/ha N. Roots were sampled every 2 weeks to determine biomass and root length density as a function of depth. Every week, soil water content in all treatments was measured gravimetrically to a depth of 0·23 m and with a neutron probe from 0·3 to 1·5 m.Below 0·45 m, volumetric water content was a negative exponential function of time after roots arrived and the maximum depth of extraction moved downwards at 2–5 cm per day. In the dry treatment, the extraction ‘front’ lagged behind the deepest roots by c. 12 days initially but the two fronts eventually converged. Irrigation delayed the descent of the extraction front by c. 20 days but thereafter it appeared to descend faster than without irrigation. Averaged over N rates, the time constant of the exponential function was inversely related to the root length density, lv, decreasing with depth from about 20 to 10 days as lv increased from 2·5 to 4·0 km/m3.The biomass[ratio ]water ratio was almost independent of N but increased from a mean of 5·3 g dry matter per kg water in the dry treatments to 6·9 g/kg with irrigation. When normalized by the seasonal mean difference in vapour pressure deficit within irrigated and unirrigated plots, the ratios were 13·1 and 13·3 kPa g per kg water, respectively.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Pilbeam ◽  
C. C. Daamen ◽  
L. P. Simmonds

SUMMARYFour components of the water budget for a growing season, namely storage, drainage, transpiration and direct evaporation from the soil surface, were estimated using a suite of techniques. The only data requirements were rainfall, neutron probe measurements of soil water content and microlysimeter measurements of evaporation from the soil. Data from four growing seasons at Kiboko, Kenya between 1990 and 1992 were used to provide examples of the estimations. Drainage was significant (about 10% of rainfall) in one season only; in the other seasons, total evaporation comprised at least 95% of the seasonal rainfall.Drainage was determined using a relationship between unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water content that was determined during the early part of the rainy season when water was penetrating to depth. This analysis made it possible to identify a critical water content at the base of the soil profile, above which there would be significant drainage. However, there are large errors associated with estimation of drainage if significant drainage occurs.Estimates of direct evaporation from the soil surface were used as the basis of distinguishing transpiration from total evaporation. Microlysimetry was used to develop a model of evaporation from these sandy soils, which was based on the assumption that the evaporation from the soil surface following heavy rainfall is a unique function of time from rainfall, and little influenced by the presence of a sparse crop. This method showed that direct evaporation from the soil accounted for between 70 and 85% of total evaporation in seasons when total evaporation estimates ranged from 150 to 325 mm.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Zizhao Zhang ◽  
Xiaoli Guo ◽  
Qianli Lv ◽  
Ruihua Hao ◽  
Zezhou Guo ◽  
...  

Because of the arid climate and fragile ecological environment in Xinjiang, China, land reclamation should be carried out after mining. The core of land reclamation is the water content of the surface covering soil. In this paper, the law of water distribution in reclamation reconstructed soil of nonmetal mines in Xinjiang was studied. In order to obtain the law of water distribution in reconstructed soil, we set up an observation system of the neutron probe and tensiometer. The neutron probe was used to monitor the soil water content. The tensiometers were used to obtain the matrix potential of soil for verifying the water distribution in reconstructed soil. Volumetric water content and matrix potential of reconstructed soil during 1-year period of management and irrigation were obtained by long-term monitoring. After one year’s field in situ test, 2424 sets of neutron probe data and 1368 sets of tensiometer data were obtained. By studying the above parameters, we summarized the law of water distribution in reconstructed soil of variable thickness and degree of compaction with nonmetallic waste rock filling. The results showed that covering soil was helpful to retain water content. Whether the soil was compacted or uncompacted, the soil water content at the depth of 10 cm was less than that at other depth of reconstructed soil because it was greatly affected by meteorological factors. The water content of reconstructed soil at 30 cm depth was greater than that at other depths. Under the influence of factors such as the thickness and compaction of the soil, the response time of soil water content and matrix potential to each irrigation infiltration was different. According to the characteristics of reclamation-vegetation such as alfalfa growth in Xinjiang, the thickness of surface reconstructed soil should be not less than 50 cm. Over time, soil that was compacted once was better for the vegetation. The research results could provide a reference for the land reclamation of nonmetallic mines in Xinjiang, China.


Soil Research ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1397 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Arslan ◽  
A. K. Razzouk ◽  
F. Al-Ain

The use of neutron scattering technique for determining the soil surface water content is not popular due to the radiation escaping from the soil surface and the large errors in measurement. To compare the radiation exposure and the performance of different techniques statistically, 3 sites were selected. Five different neutron probe models and different adaptors were used with the depth probes. Exposure to neutrons and γ radiations, at various distances from the probes, were determined. In situ calibration curves were determined using different models of depth probes with a Solo surface reflector block, CPN surface adaptor, and different numbers of plastic Teflon parallelepiped, as well as surface Troxler 3401-B probes. Depth neutron probe readings increased with increasing number of Teflon plastic blocks deposited on the soil surface. The intercept of the straight line regression analysis of CR (count ratio, surface count over standard count) u. percentage water content on a volume basis decreased with increasing number of blocks deposited on the soil surface at all sites. The determination coefficient values of any depth probe with a Solo surface reflector or a block of 4·8 cm thickness were higher than those of a Troxler 3401-B surface probe or CPN 503 depth probe with its surface adaptor. The least exposure to radiation was with a depth probe with surface reflectors. This study proves the possibility of measuring the moisture content of the soil surface by using a depth neutron probe with a block laid on the surface, without danger of receiving the threshold dose of radiation.


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