Location: Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research
Project Number: 2054-13000-010-007-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2022
End Date: Aug 31, 2023
Objective:
Evaluate the applicability of ground penetrating radar technology to assess bedrock depth and underground plant biomass on semi-arid agricultural soils of the Pacific Northwest.
Approach:
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurement will be made using a dual channel (400 and 900 MHz) polarized GPR system with a mounted computer with software for GPR configuration, data collection, and pre-processing. The scanning pattern will be a grid that allows three-dimensional images of underground structures to be generated. The GPR system will be used to scan irrigated agricultural fields in southern Idaho in Fall 2022. Selected fields have already had detailed soil cores collected to determine bedrock depth. Field characteristics to be extracted from these scans include detailed map(s) of bedrock depth. Additional field scans will be done on sugar beet research plots to evaluate the ability to detect underground plant biomass. Plant properties of interest include morphology, grading and underground biomass of root crops.
