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@INPROCEEDINGS{Lrm:1050414,
      author       = {Lärm, Lena and Landl, Magdalena and Schnepf, Andrea and
                      Vereecken, Harry and Klotzsche, Anja},
      title        = {{C}oupling gpr{M}ax and {CP}lant{B}ox: {A} {N}ovel
                      {F}ramework to {S}imulate {E}lectromagnetic {W}aves {L}inked
                      to {S}oil-{R}oot {I}nteractions},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2026-00184},
      year         = {2025},
      abstract     = {The interaction between soil, water, and agricultural crops
                      is crucial in governing the processes that influence plant
                      growth and productivity. As climate change continues to
                      affect agricultural systems, it becomes increasingly
                      essential to understand these processes, particularly to
                      enhance productivity while minimizing environmental impact.
                      Quantifying the effects of climate change and farming
                      practices on crop growth requires an understanding of crop
                      root system dynamics. The opaque nature of soil makes in
                      situ root phenotyping difficult, destructive, and often
                      unrepeatable. Agrogeophysical investigation techniques, such
                      as ground-penetrating radar (GPR), are becoming popular for
                      non-invasively monitoring soil water content and root
                      presence. We used gprMax, open-source finite-difference
                      time-domain electromagnetic (EM) simulation software, to
                      mimic GPR data for agricultural soils and quantify the
                      effect of crop roots on the signal. To incorporate root
                      presence into EM modeling, we calculated the permittivity
                      for a four-phase soil system, including the soil matrix,
                      water, air, and roots. For our first case study, we used
                      field-acquired root distribution data. Trench root counts
                      were measured to derive the root volume fraction, which
                      allowed us to calculate the dielectric permittivity of the
                      four-phase system. We observed that the presence of roots
                      affects the arrival times, amplitudes, and phase of the EM
                      wave. Since the field data were limited to one cultivar,
                      time step, and soil water content during the growing season,
                      we extended our study to use a root model to investigate
                      other influences at various time steps. We coupled gprMax
                      with CPlantBox, a plant growth and soil water simulation
                      model, to simulate the dynamic effects of root growth and
                      water uptake in various scenarios. These scenarios included
                      different crop cultivars, varying soil water conditions, and
                      different growth stages during the vegetation period. The
                      distributions of water content and roots in the soil, as
                      simulated by CPlantBox, can then be converted into a
                      dielectric permittivity distribution and implemented as
                      input for gprMax. With this novel framework, we can
                      investigate the simulated GPR signals further for different
                      crop cultivars, time steps during the growing season, and
                      soil water content conditions. This allows us to quantify
                      their effects on the first arrival times, amplitudes, and
                      phase of the EM wave. This framework has several advantages,
                      including the ability to account for the dynamic effects of
                      root growth and water uptake on soil dielectric properties.
                      The coupled model has been validated against experimental
                      data and shows promising results in simulating the complex
                      interactions between soil, roots, and EM waves.},
      month         = {Sep},
      date          = {2025-09-29},
      organization  = {Advancing Critical Zone science, 3rd
                       OZCAR TERENO International Conference,
                       Paris (France), 29 Sep 2025 - 2 Oct
                       2025},
      subtyp        = {After Call},
      cin          = {IBG-3},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)IBG-3-20101118},
      pnm          = {2173 - Agro-biogeosystems: controls, feedbacks and impact
                      (POF4-217) / EXC 2070:  PhenoRob - Robotics and Phenotyping
                      for Sustainable Crop Production (390732324)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-2173 / G:(BMBF)390732324},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)6},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1050414},
}