Speaker
Description
Soil moisture is water content held within the pore spaces between the soil particles. It is a pivotal variable as it plays a major role in climate change processes, which is widely used in agriculture.
Soil moisture is traditionally measured with sensors that are invasive, labour-intensive, and subject to uncertainties. This study uses a non-invasive Boron trifluoride (BF$_3$) Cosmic-ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS), which continuously measure soil moisture estimates. The CRNS detects fast (epithermal) neutrons, produced from Cosmic-ray particles that enter the atmosphere of Earth. These fast neutrons interact inversely with hydrogen atoms in soil, which creates a method that is capable of measuring soil moisture across a footprint of approximately 20 hectares in width and up to 0.3 m depth. However, this method does require calibration and corrections. Therefore, this study measures the neutron count rate and details the correction process from the effects of pressure changes, temperature, and humidity. This work also details the CRNS field calibration processes that affect the neutron intensity. The neutron intensity is converted to volumetric water content estimations, which is validated against gravimetric soil sampling and data from seventeen AquaCheck probes. This study assists in precision agriculture, which can enhance water resource conservation in diverse agricultural landscapes.
| Apply for student award at which level: | PhD |
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| Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission | Yes, I ACCEPT |