%0 Journal Article
%T Temporal stability of soil moisture patterns measured by proximal ground-penetrating radar
%A J. Minet
%A N. E. C. Verhoest
%A S. Lambot
%A M. Vanclooster
%J Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions
%D 2013
%I Copernicus Publications
%R 10.5194/hessd-10-4063-2013
%X We analyzed the temporal stability of soil moisture patterns acquired using a proximal ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in a 2.5 ha agricultural field at five different dates over three weeks. The GPR system was mounted on a mobile platform, allowing for real-time mapping of soil moisture with a high spatial resolution (2¨C5 m). The spatio-temporal soil moisture patterns were in accordance with the meteorological data and with soil moisture measurements from soil core sampling. Time-stable areas showing the field-average moisture could be revealed by two methods: (1) by the computation of temporal stability indicators based on relative differences of soil moisture to the field-average and (2) by the spatial intersection of the areas showing the field-average. Locations where the mean relative difference was below 0.02 m3 m 3 extended up to 10% of the field area whereas the intersection of areas showing the field-average within a tolerance of 0.02 m3 m 3 covered 5% of the field area. Compared to most of the previous studies about temporal stability of soil moisture, time-stable areas and their spatial patterns could be revealed instead of single point locations, owing to the advanced GPR method for real-time mapping. It is believed that determining spatially coherent time-stable areas is more informative rather than determining time-stable points. Other acquisitions over larger time periods would be necessary to assert the robustness of the time-stable areas.
%U http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net/10/4063/2013/hessd-10-4063-2013.pdf