Long-term soil moisture observations using cosmic-ray neutron sensing in Austria
- 1Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
- 2Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
- 3Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Hamasaka, Japan
- 4Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL), Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Italy
- 5Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, UK
- 6School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
This study presents the results of soil moisture investigation carried by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division using Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS). The measurements have been collected at several studied sites in Austria. The Petzenkirchen study which is within the Austrian Institute for Land and Water Management Research employing stationary CRNS has been established in Dec. 2013 and it provides major dataset for this study. It represents small watershed in hilly area of northern footslopes of Alps. Apart of that the short-term measurement campaigns were carried out using back-pack CRNS in alluvial plain east of Neusiedler See and in mountainous areas of Rauris Municipality in central part of Austrian Alps.
This study describes the results and interpretation of about 7 years of soil moisture data set (2013-2020). The analysis focused on improving the calibration approaches, CRNS footprint, heterogeneity soil moisture mapping, impacts of biomass and altitude on neutron counts. Further, the use of CRNS data for calibrating soil moisture calculated by soil water balance model was tested. The overall application is aimed at supporting agricultural water management and in developing methodology for soil moisture monitoring for water management in agriculture (under rainfed agriculture as well as for irrigation scheduling). This unique data-set can also provide additional information for hydrological modelling and remote sensing applications (at regional and global scales), as well as for extreme weather events (drought and flood) management and forecasting.
How to cite: Fulajtar, E., Said Ahmed, H., Wahbi, A., Baroni, G., Rosolem, R., Power, D., Franz, T., and Kheng Heng, L.: Long-term soil moisture observations using cosmic-ray neutron sensing in Austria, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7668, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7668, 2020.
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Dear Colleagues, welcome to EGU2020-7668 poster.
Hi, thanks for this interesting poster presentation.
In relation to Figure 7 and 8, would you be able to provide a bit more detail on what was surveyed using the the static and backpack CRNS probes? Were both probes used at the same sites simultaneously? Or rather the static at its location and the backpack at the neighbouring two?
From Figure 1(location image) it is difficult to imagine how close the study sites are (they look quite far away). Do you know if the soil and vegetation cover among sites varies a lot or would you say they are rather similar? I wonder if that influences the high R2 shown in Figure 7 and 8.
Thank you!
Hi
Thanks for the question and we aplogies that we have typo error in Fig 7 and 8, we should say in-site instead of sationary (static probe). So, all the data from the mobile CRNS in relation to destractive (in-situe) soil samples. The conclusions in Figure 7 thae mesaurements of 200 m seems relate well with the measurements.
The vegitation in these sites are different, but, not to high extend where we need to account for biomass water equivelants.
Ammar Wahbi
The vegetation was different for different site and different seasons. In Petzenkirchen and Rutzendorf the measurements are running at cultivated land with crop rotations usual for warmer regions of Austria (such as winter wheat, maize, oil rape, spring barley). In Rauris and Illmitz the measu during the season, because at arable land there are periods when the land is bare. This valid for all studies during 2013-2020.
Correction of my first reply (part of the text disappeared):
The vegetation was different for different site and different seasons. In Petzenkirchen and Rutzendorf the measurements are running at cultivated land with crop rotations usual for warmer regions of Austria (such as winter wheat, maize, oil rape, spring barley). In Rauris and Illmitz the measurements were done on grassland. So the biomass was differing in its dynamics during the vegetation season, because at arable land there are periods when the land is bare, while the grassland is growwing during the whole vegetation seasons. This valid for all studies during 2013-2020.
Thank you both, that helps understanding a bit better. I guess the climate is temperate in the region thus not extremely humid.
I am curious how long does it take to do a transect? In other words what is the minimum integration time for the backpack version in the climate you research at?
Thanks
It is about 2 to 3 hours, since we have reading every one minutes and duration dependenat on ASL (above sea level) as well as the wetness of the soil, so, it is in average 2 to 3 hours (shorther when high in ASL and wetness of the soil).
Thanks, that is very helpful. I am using the backpack version in Scottish lowlands (very humid, at sea level) and it takes ages. :)
Have you done or considered to do in the near future a cross-calibration of the static and the backpack CRNS probes?
Looking forward to learn more about your research! Is it "followable" on ResearchGate? Thank you
Yes, surveys in low elevations in wet environments are the most challenging. Typically we like to have greater than 600 raw counts for each data point. The more the better but you are limited by survey time. Check out Fig. 1.4 in https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326744502_Soil_Moisture_Mapping_with_a_Portable_Cosmic_Ray_Neutron_Sensor to get an idea of error. Happy to chat more if you have questions.
Thanks Trenton! This "rule of thumb" of >600 counts per point helps very much. I actually did already read the reference you point out and found it very useful to prepare our backpack CRNS experiment.
Regarding the climate, we can say also that normally it is temperate (as in Cenral Europe) but three sites near Rauris are in Alps so there is local version of mountainous climate depending on elevation and meso- and microclimatic effects of orography. In higly elevated sites it is rather cold and wet, but certainly not so wet like in Scotland. If it is interesting for you, we can provide you later some climatic data.
Regarding the climate, we can say also that normally it is temperate (as in Cenral Europe) but three sites near Rauris are in Alps so there is local version of mountainous climate depending on elevation and meso- and microclimatic effects of orography. In higly elevated sites it is rather cold and wet, but certainly not so wet like in Scotland. If it is interesting for you, we can provide you later some climatic data.
Thanks a lot for offering that Emil. Not needed at the moment, but may be in the near future. Any way to trace you on ResearchGate?
Yes, I am at Research Gate, but I am not using it too much. I think easiest would be to communicate directly by e-mail: e.fulajtar@iaea.org
Yes, we are working in compaing the stationary and backpack since, we have the stationary in Petzenkirchen and we had several mesaurements with packpack but, will share the results when fully analysed.
I am on reserach-gate, and I am now in Japan, Tottori University, my private email is ammar.wahbi@gmail.com
Thank you both, I will make sure to follow this exciting work on ResearchGate