Integral quantification of seasonal soil moisture changes in farmland by cosmic-ray neutrons
- Soil moisture at the plot or hill-slope scale is an important link between local vadose zone hydrology and catchment hydrology. However, so far only a few methods are on the way to close this gap between point measurements and remote sensing. One new measurement methodology that could determine integral soil moisture at this scale is the aboveground sensing of cosmic-ray neutrons, more precisely of ground albedo neutrons. The present study performed ground albedo neutron sensing (GANS) at an agricultural field in northern Germany. To test the method it was accompanied by other soil moisture measurements for a summer period with corn crops growing on the field and a later autumn-winter period without crops and a longer period of snow cover. Additionally, meteorological data and aboveground crop biomass were included in the evaluation. Hourly values of ground albedo neutron sensing showed a high statistical variability. Six-hourly values corresponded well with classical soil moisture measurements, after calibration based on oneSoil moisture at the plot or hill-slope scale is an important link between local vadose zone hydrology and catchment hydrology. However, so far only a few methods are on the way to close this gap between point measurements and remote sensing. One new measurement methodology that could determine integral soil moisture at this scale is the aboveground sensing of cosmic-ray neutrons, more precisely of ground albedo neutrons. The present study performed ground albedo neutron sensing (GANS) at an agricultural field in northern Germany. To test the method it was accompanied by other soil moisture measurements for a summer period with corn crops growing on the field and a later autumn-winter period without crops and a longer period of snow cover. Additionally, meteorological data and aboveground crop biomass were included in the evaluation. Hourly values of ground albedo neutron sensing showed a high statistical variability. Six-hourly values corresponded well with classical soil moisture measurements, after calibration based on one reference dry period and three wet periods of a few days each. Crop biomass seemed to influence the measurements only to minor degree, opposed to snow cover which has a more substantial impact on the measurements. The latter could be quantitatively related to a newly introduced field neutron ratio estimated from neutron counting rates of two energy ranges. Overall, our study outlines a procedure to apply the ground albedo neutron sensing method based on devices now commercially available, without the need for accompanying numerical simulations and suited for longer monitoring periods after initial calibration.…
Author details: | C. A. Rivera Villarreyes, Gabriele BaroniORCiDGND, Sascha OswaldORCiDGND |
---|---|
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-3843-2011 |
ISSN: | 1027-5606 |
Title of parent work (English): | Hydrology and earth system sciences : HESS |
Publisher: | Copernicus |
Place of publishing: | Göttingen |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2011 |
Publication year: | 2011 |
Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
Volume: | 15 |
Issue: | 12 |
Number of pages: | 17 |
First page: | 3843 |
Last Page: | 3859 |
Funding institution: | Potsdam Graduate School (POGS); German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of IPSWaT (International Postgraduate Studies in Water Technologies); Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ; Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim (ATB); European Union [213007] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |