A Novel Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensor for Soil Moisture Estimation over Large Areas

Abstract

A correct soil moisture estimation is a fundamental prerequisite for many applications: agriculture, meteorological forecast, flood and drought prediction, and, in general, water accounting and management. Traditional methods typically provide point-like measurements, but suffer from soil heterogeneity, which can produce significant misinterpretation of the hydrological scenarios. In the last decade, cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has emerged as a promising approach for the detection of soil moisture content. CRNS can average soil moisture over a large volume (up to tens of hectares) of terrain with only one probe, thus overcoming limitations arising from the heterogeneity of the soil. The present paper introduces the development of a new CRNS instrument designed for agricultural applications and based on an innovative neutron detector. The new instrument was applied and tested in two experimental fields located in Potsdam (DE, Germany) and Lagosanto (IT, Italy). The results highlight how the new detector could be a valid alternative and robust solution for the application of the CRNS technique for soil moisture measurements in agriculture.

Opportunities and challenges in using catchment-scale storage estimates from cosmic ray neutron sensors for rainfall-runoff modelling

“…flood modelling applications) when near-surface storage plays a dominant role in runoff generation. Additionally, landscape-average estimates of SWCCRNS can be extremely valuable for agricultural management applications that reply on soil moisture status (Franz et al, 2016;Stevanato et al, 2019). These and other applications, such as flood warning systems, would therefore benefit significantly from the better internal representation of SWC that CRNS data can bring to rainfall-runoff models.…”

Large-Scale Boron-Lined Neutron Detection Systems as a 3He Alternative for Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing

“…Their study revealed the similarity of the CRNPs to Bonner Spheres (Bramblett et al, 1960;Hertel and Davidson, 1985;Mares et al, 1991;Mares and Schraube, 1994) in terms of energy sensitivity. Beyond the standard probes recent developments also aim to introduce scintillation-based instruments (Stevanato et al, 2019). Besides the achievable count rate, the main difference between the two concepts lies in the detector energy response function and the background suppression.…”

Environmental geophysics

“…iaea.org/publications/11097/cosmic-rayneutron-sensing-use-calibration-andvalidation-for-soil-moisture-estimation). Another interesting paper on the subject is Stevanato et al (2019).…”