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    Rights statement: Accepted for publication in Water Resources Research. Copyright 2023 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted

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Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar

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Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar. / Cheng, Qinbo; Su, Qiuju; Binley, Andrew et al.
In: Water Resources Research, Vol. 59, No. 2, e2022WR032621, 28.02.2023.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Cheng, Q, Su, Q, Binley, A, Liu, J, Zhang, Z & Chen, X 2023, 'Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar', Water Resources Research, vol. 59, no. 2, e2022WR032621. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032621

APA

Cheng, Q., Su, Q., Binley, A., Liu, J., Zhang, Z., & Chen, X. (2023). Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar. Water Resources Research, 59(2), Article e2022WR032621. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032621

Vancouver

Cheng Q, Su Q, Binley A, Liu J, Zhang Z, Chen X. Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar. Water Resources Research. 2023 Feb 28;59(2):e2022WR032621. Epub 2023 Feb 3. doi: 10.1029/2022WR032621

Author

Cheng, Qinbo ; Su, Qiuju ; Binley, Andrew et al. / Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar. In: Water Resources Research. 2023 ; Vol. 59, No. 2.

Bibtex

@article{57c6a664bfec4ea49278601197ff16db,
title = "Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar",
abstract = "The measurement of soil moisture is important for a wide range of applications, including ecosystem conservation and agricultural management. However, most traditional measurement methods, e.g., time-domain reflectometry (TDR), are unsuitable for mapping field scale variability. In this study, we propose a method that uses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to support a ground penetrating radar (GPR) system for spatial scanning investigation at different elevations above ground level. This method measures the surface reflectivity to estimate the soil moisture, exploiting the linear relationship between the ratio of the reflected and the direct wave amplitudes along with the reciprocal of GPR antenna height. This relationship is deduced in this study based on the point source assumptions of a transmitter antenna and ground reflections, which is confirmed by numerical simulation results using the gprMax software. Unlike previous air-launched GPR methods, the UAV-GPR method presented here removes the limitations of a steady transmitter power and a fixed GPR survey height and the need for calibration of antenna transfer functions and geophysical inversion calculations, and thus is simpler and more convenient for field applications. We test the method at field sites within the riparian zone and a river-island grassland adjacent to the Yangtze River. The results from the field study illustrate comparable measured soil moisture to those obtained invasively using TDR. The root mean square error (RMSE) of surface reflectivity and soil moisture values between UAV-GPR with 8 antenna height investigations and TDR in the grassland are 0.03 and 0.05 cm3/cm3, respectively. ",
keywords = "UAV, GPR, reflectivity, permittivity, soil moisture",
author = "Qinbo Cheng and Qiuju Su and Andrew Binley and Jintao Liu and Zhicai Zhang and Xi Chen",
note = "Accepted for publication in Water Resources Research. Copyright 2023 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted",
year = "2023",
month = feb,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1029/2022WR032621",
language = "English",
volume = "59",
journal = "Water Resources Research",
issn = "0043-1397",
publisher = "AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Estimation of surface soil moisture by a multi-elevation UAV-based ground penetrating radar

AU - Cheng, Qinbo

AU - Su, Qiuju

AU - Binley, Andrew

AU - Liu, Jintao

AU - Zhang, Zhicai

AU - Chen, Xi

N1 - Accepted for publication in Water Resources Research. Copyright 2023 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted

PY - 2023/2/28

Y1 - 2023/2/28

N2 - The measurement of soil moisture is important for a wide range of applications, including ecosystem conservation and agricultural management. However, most traditional measurement methods, e.g., time-domain reflectometry (TDR), are unsuitable for mapping field scale variability. In this study, we propose a method that uses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to support a ground penetrating radar (GPR) system for spatial scanning investigation at different elevations above ground level. This method measures the surface reflectivity to estimate the soil moisture, exploiting the linear relationship between the ratio of the reflected and the direct wave amplitudes along with the reciprocal of GPR antenna height. This relationship is deduced in this study based on the point source assumptions of a transmitter antenna and ground reflections, which is confirmed by numerical simulation results using the gprMax software. Unlike previous air-launched GPR methods, the UAV-GPR method presented here removes the limitations of a steady transmitter power and a fixed GPR survey height and the need for calibration of antenna transfer functions and geophysical inversion calculations, and thus is simpler and more convenient for field applications. We test the method at field sites within the riparian zone and a river-island grassland adjacent to the Yangtze River. The results from the field study illustrate comparable measured soil moisture to those obtained invasively using TDR. The root mean square error (RMSE) of surface reflectivity and soil moisture values between UAV-GPR with 8 antenna height investigations and TDR in the grassland are 0.03 and 0.05 cm3/cm3, respectively.

AB - The measurement of soil moisture is important for a wide range of applications, including ecosystem conservation and agricultural management. However, most traditional measurement methods, e.g., time-domain reflectometry (TDR), are unsuitable for mapping field scale variability. In this study, we propose a method that uses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to support a ground penetrating radar (GPR) system for spatial scanning investigation at different elevations above ground level. This method measures the surface reflectivity to estimate the soil moisture, exploiting the linear relationship between the ratio of the reflected and the direct wave amplitudes along with the reciprocal of GPR antenna height. This relationship is deduced in this study based on the point source assumptions of a transmitter antenna and ground reflections, which is confirmed by numerical simulation results using the gprMax software. Unlike previous air-launched GPR methods, the UAV-GPR method presented here removes the limitations of a steady transmitter power and a fixed GPR survey height and the need for calibration of antenna transfer functions and geophysical inversion calculations, and thus is simpler and more convenient for field applications. We test the method at field sites within the riparian zone and a river-island grassland adjacent to the Yangtze River. The results from the field study illustrate comparable measured soil moisture to those obtained invasively using TDR. The root mean square error (RMSE) of surface reflectivity and soil moisture values between UAV-GPR with 8 antenna height investigations and TDR in the grassland are 0.03 and 0.05 cm3/cm3, respectively.

KW - UAV

KW - GPR

KW - reflectivity

KW - permittivity

KW - soil moisture

U2 - 10.1029/2022WR032621

DO - 10.1029/2022WR032621

M3 - Journal article

VL - 59

JO - Water Resources Research

JF - Water Resources Research

SN - 0043-1397

IS - 2

M1 - e2022WR032621

ER -