Field‐scale estimation of volumetric water content using ground‐penetrating radar ground wave techniques

TLDR

Ground‑penetrating radar ground‑wave techniques, using 900 and 450 MHz antennas, were applied to a 3‑acre California vineyard over one year to densely sample travel times in the upper 10 cm and estimate soil water content, with results compared to gravimetric, TDR, and soil‑texture measurements. The study found that GPR ground waves produced accurate, spatially dense shallow water content estimates with an RMS error of ~0.01, showing little temporal change in spatial distribution but seasonal and irrigation‑driven absolute value variations, demonstrating the method’s rapid, noninvasive applicability over large areas.

Abstract

Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) ground wave techniques were applied to estimate soil water content in the uppermost ∼10 cm of a 3 acre California vineyard several times over 1 year. We collected densely spaced GPR travel time measurements using 900 and 450 MHz antennas and analyzed these data to estimate water content. The spatial distribution of water content across the vineyard did not change significantly with time, although the absolute water content values varied seasonally and with irrigation. The GPR estimates of water content were compared to gravimetric water content, time domain reflectometry, and soil texture measurements. The comparisons of GPR‐derived estimates of water content to gravimetric water content measurements showed that the GPR estimates had a root mean square error of volumetric water content of the order of 0.01. The results from this study indicate that GPR ground waves can be used to provide noninvasive, spatially dense estimates of shallow water content over large areas and in a rapid manner.