Rs. Freeland et al., MAPPING SHALLOW UNDERGROUND FEATURES THAT INFLUENCE SITE-SPECIFIC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, Journal of applied geophysics, 40(1-3), 1998, pp. 19-27
Citations number
12
Categorie Soggetti
Geosciences, Interdisciplinary","Mining & Mineral Processing
Modern agricultural production practices are rapidly evolving in the U
nited States of America (USA). These new production practices present
significant applications for nonintrusive subsurface imaging. One such
imaging technology is GPR, and it is now being incorporated within si
te-specific agriculture in the detection of soil horizons, perched wat
er (episaturation), fragipans, hydrological preferential flow paths, a
nd soil compaction. These features traditionally have been mapped by s
oil scientists using intrusive measurements (e.g., soil augers, soil p
its, coring tools). Rather than developing a tool for soil mapping, ou
r studies are targeting the identification, dimensioning, and position
of subsurface features that directly influence agricultural productiv
ity. It is foreseen that this information will allow for an increase i
n agricultural efficiency through infield machinery automation, and it
will also greatly enhance development of highly efficient crop produc
tion strategies. The field sensing methodologies that we have develope
d using existing geophysical technologies are highly dependent upon bo
th the soil and site characteristics due to seasonal variations. The G
PR applications presented herein were conducted primarily in a region
of loess soil that extends east of the Mississippi River into western
Tennessee. GPR studies were also conducted in central Tennessee on the
Cumberland Plateau within a region of shallow, sandy loam soils. Addi
tional studies were conducted on the karst area of central Kentucky. A
lthough targeting site-specific agriculture, our results and procedure
s may benefit the traditional users of GPR technology. We suggest that
large-scale agricultural applications of the technology would be enha
nced by integrating global positioning (GPS) technology in future hard
ware and software products. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.