Reseach of Soil Moisture Measurement in Arid Areas by Using Ground-penetrating Radar

Abstract:

Inland river basins under an arid rain-fed environment have low and limited water content, in which soil water availability plays a key role in root growth and function and is the prime factor to limit the number and size of plant species. Compared with conventional point measurements and remote sensing method, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) provides an effective methodology for rapidly mapping continuous soil moisture at an intermediate scale, which is of significance to research the processes in arid areas, desert vegetation protection, precision water regulation and water-saving irrigation.

By selecting the Urumqi River Basin for experimental observations, this study considered the typical arid landscapes and soil characteristics, and then used ground-penetrating radar to monitor soil moisture in different sites, with time domain reflectometry (TDR) and gravimetric sampling method used synchronously to validate the accuracy and suitability of GPR method.