Testing a novel sensor design to jointly measure cosmic-ray neutrons, muons and gamma rays for non-invasive soil moisture estimation

IF 1.8 4区地球科学 Q3 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems Pub Date : 2022-11-01 DOI:10.5194/gi-2022-20

Stefano Gianessi, Matteo Polo, Luca Stevanato, Marcello Lunardon, Till Francke, Sascha Oswald, Hami Ahmed, Arsenio Tolosa, Georg Welting, Gerd Dercon, Emil Fulajtar, Lee Heng, Gabriele Baroni

{"title":"Testing a novel sensor design to jointly measure cosmic-ray neutrons, muons and gamma rays for non-invasive soil moisture estimation","authors":"Stefano Gianessi, Matteo Polo, Luca Stevanato, Marcello Lunardon, Till Francke, Sascha Oswald, Hami Ahmed, Arsenio Tolosa, Georg Welting, Gerd Dercon, Emil Fulajtar, Lee Heng, Gabriele Baroni","doi":"10.5194/gi-2022-20","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has emerged as a reliable method for soil moisture and snow estimation. However, the applicability of this method beyond research has been limited due to, among others, the use of relatively large and expensive sensors. This paper presents the tests conducted to a new scintillator-based sensor especially designed to jointly measure neutron counts, total gamma-rays, and muons. The neutron signal is firstly compared against two conventional gas-tube-based CRNS sensors at two locations (Austria and Germany). The estimated soil moisture is further assessed at four agricultural sites in Italy based on gravimetric soil moisture collected within the sensor footprint. The results show that the signal detected by the new scintillator-based CRNS sensor is well in agreement with the conventional CRNS sensors and with the gravimetric soil moisture measurements. In addition, the muons and the total gamma-rays simultaneously detected by the sensor show promising features for a better correction of the incoming variability and for discriminating irrigation and precipitation events, respectively. Further experiments and analyses should be conducted, however, to better understand the added value of these additional data for soil moisture estimation. Overall, the new scintillator design shows to be a valid and compact alternative to conventional CRNS sensors for non-invasive soil moisture monitoring that can open the path to a wide range of applications.","PeriodicalId":48742,"journal":{"name":"Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-2022-20","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract. Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has emerged as a reliable method for soil moisture and snow estimation. However, the applicability of this method beyond research has been limited due to, among others, the use of relatively large and expensive sensors. This paper presents the tests conducted to a new scintillator-based sensor especially designed to jointly measure neutron counts, total gamma-rays, and muons. The neutron signal is firstly compared against two conventional gas-tube-based CRNS sensors at two locations (Austria and Germany). The estimated soil moisture is further assessed at four agricultural sites in Italy based on gravimetric soil moisture collected within the sensor footprint. The results show that the signal detected by the new scintillator-based CRNS sensor is well in agreement with the conventional CRNS sensors and with the gravimetric soil moisture measurements. In addition, the muons and the total gamma-rays simultaneously detected by the sensor show promising features for a better correction of the incoming variability and for discriminating irrigation and precipitation events, respectively. Further experiments and analyses should be conducted, however, to better understand the added value of these additional data for soil moisture estimation. Overall, the new scintillator design shows to be a valid and compact alternative to conventional CRNS sensors for non-invasive soil moisture monitoring that can open the path to a wide range of applications.

查看原文本刊更多论文

测试一种新型传感器设计，用于联合测量宇宙射线中子、介子和伽马射线，用于非侵入性土壤湿度估算

摘要。宇宙射线中子传感(CRNS)已成为估算土壤湿度和积雪的可靠方法。然而，这种方法在研究之外的适用性受到限制，其中包括使用相对较大和昂贵的传感器。本文介绍了一种基于闪烁体的新型传感器的测试情况，该传感器专门用于联合测量中子数、总伽马射线和介子。中子信号首先与两个地点(奥地利和德国)的两个传统的基于气体管的CRNS传感器进行比较。根据传感器足迹内收集的重力土壤水分，在意大利的四个农业地点进一步评估估计的土壤水分。结果表明，基于闪烁体的CRNS传感器检测到的信号与传统的CRNS传感器和土壤水分重测结果吻合较好。此外，传感器同时检测到的μ子和总伽马射线显示出有希望的特征，分别可以更好地校正入射变率和区分灌溉和降水事件。然而，为了更好地了解这些额外数据对土壤水分估算的附加价值，还应进行进一步的实验和分析。总的来说，新的闪烁体设计表明，它是传统CRNS传感器的一种有效而紧凑的替代品，可用于非侵入式土壤湿度监测，为广泛的应用开辟了道路。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARYMETEOROLOGY-METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

37 weeks

期刊介绍： Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems (GI) is an open-access interdisciplinary electronic journal for swift publication of original articles and short communications in the area of geoscientific instruments. It covers three main areas: (i) atmospheric and geospace sciences, (ii) earth science, and (iii) ocean science. A unique feature of the journal is the emphasis on synergy between science and technology that facilitates advances in GI. These advances include but are not limited to the following: concepts, design, and description of instrumentation and data systems; retrieval techniques of scientific products from measurements; calibration and data quality assessment; uncertainty in measurements; newly developed and planned research platforms and community instrumentation capabilities; major national and international field campaigns and observational research programs; new observational strategies to address societal needs in areas such as monitoring climate change and preventing natural disasters; networking of instruments for enhancing high temporal and spatial resolution of observations. GI has an innovative two-stage publication process involving the scientific discussion forum Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems Discussions (GID), which has been designed to do the following: foster scientific discussion; maximize the effectiveness and transparency of scientific quality assurance; enable rapid publication; make scientific publications freely accessible.