guest ::
| Home > Publications database > Cosmic-ray Neutron Sensing in Support of Precision Irrigation or: How a FairlySimple Question Yields a Puzzling Answer |
| Home > Publications database > Cosmic-ray Neutron Sensing in Support of Precision Irrigation or: How a FairlySimple Question Yields a Puzzling Answer |
| Conference Presentation (Other) | FZJ-2022-02341 |
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
2022
Abstract: The agricultural sector is increasingly reliant on water availability, especially given expected increase of agricultural droughts related to climate change. Thus, improved soil moisture (SM) monitoring tools are needed to support more efficient water management strategies such as precision irrigation. A novel and non-invasive method is cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS). It is characterized by a large footprint (~240m) and relies on the negative correlation between fast neutrons originating from cosmic radiation and SM. Despite promising results in the monitoring of SM dynamics and patterns, only a few studies explored the use of CRNS for irrigation management. In this study, two apple orchards of ~1.2 ha located in the Pinios Hydrological Observatory (Greece) were provided with CRNS probes. These were supported by extensive monitoring of SM and climate data in the context of the H2020 ATLAS project. In capturing irrigation events, the agreement between the CRNS and the validation measurements depended largely on a) the timing of irrigation, b) the CRNS calibration strategy, c) precipitation, and d) the management of the surrounding fields. In parallel, we performed neutron transport simulations of multiple scenarios with variable irrigated area and soil moisture by using the URANOS model. This allowed the study of how the surrounding environment influences the effectiveness of a CRNS sensor when its footprint is larger than the area of interest. This combination of simulations and experiments is providing key insights on how CRNS methods can move from a proof o concept to a relevant tool in actual precisionirrigation scenarios.
|
The record appears in these collections: |