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Title: Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics

Author
item Allred, Barry
item DANIELS, JEFFREY - THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item EHSANI, REZA - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item COLLINS, M - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item GREJNER-BREZINSKA, D - THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item MERRY, C - THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Complete Book
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2008
Publication Date: 6/30/2008
Citation: Allred, B.J., Daniels, J., Ehsani, R., Collins, M.E., Grejner-Brezinska, D.A., Merry, C.J. 2008. Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press LLC. 410 p.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Geophysical methods continue to show great promise for use in agriculture. The term “agricultural geophysics” denotes a subdiscipline of geophysics that is focused only on agricultural applications. The Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics was compiled to include a comprehensive overview of the geophysical methods that can be utilized in agriculture, and provide detailed descriptions of situations in which these techniques have been employed. The book is divided into five sections, with the first section devoted to both a general introduction of agricultural geophysics (Chapter 1) and a summary of past applications of geophysical methods to agriculture (Chapters 2 and 3). The second section in the book systematically describes the three geophysical methods now most commonly employed; resistivity (Chapter 5), electromagnetic induction (Chapter 6), and ground penetrating radar (Chapter 7). The second section also presents some theoretical insight on soil electrical conductivity measurement (Chapter 4) and describes, although in limited detail, three geophysical methods not typically used for agriculture, but possibly having more widespread future application; magnetometry, self-potential, and seismic (Chapter 8). Global positioning systems (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS) are revolutionizing the way geophysical data are acquired and analyzed, and therefore warrant separate discussion in the third section of the book (Chapters 9 and 10). Agricultural geophysics case histories comprise roughly half the book. The resistivity and electromagnetic induction case histories are included in the fourth section (Chapters 11 – 22). The ground penetrating radar case histories are found in the fifth section (Chapters 23 – 30). The value of these case histories is that they document a wide range of scenarios in which geophysical methods have been successfully employed, thereby giving the reader an indication as to the potential effectiveness of using agricultural geophysics for their particular purpose.