Repeated geophysical measurements in dry and wet soil conditions to describe soil water content variability

Abstract

ABSTRACT: There is an increasing interest in the application of geophysical surveys to assess the soil water content (SWC) variation in both spatial and temporal scales. In this work, a geophysical survey was carried out at an experimental farm in dry and wet conditions. We determined the SWC data measured with the gravimetric method, apparent electrical conductivity by electromagnetic induction (EMI) and amplitude of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data at different frequencies. Geophysical sensors are an efficient tool for soil mapping at high resolution; however; there is a need to improve the knowledge on their capabilities and limitations under field conditions, especially for GPR. The geophysical survey provides an example of the application of these techniques to evaluate the spatial variability of SWC in two different water conditions. The contribution of geophysical data in understanding the spatial variability of SWC was investigated applying both the traditional analysis and spatial techniques. The results indicated that the geophysical data captured the spatial variation of SWC in non-invasively way especially in dry condition. However, they also showed the complex interplay between factors controlling SWC and geophysical responses and the drawbacks of geophysical sensors under inhomogeneous water conditions. Our findings also highlighted that EMI survey provides the potential to map the SWC variability within a relatively short time. The results obtained in this research are important from the agronomical viewpoint, since they allow increasing efficiency of irrigation practices, which is important in times characterized by climate change.

Keywords

• electromagnetic induction
• ground penetrating radar
• spatial and temporal variability
• cross correlogram