Erika Lück

Comparison of instruments for geoelectrical soil mapping at the field scale

In precision agriculture geoelectrical methods have shown their capability to detect spatial variation of important physico-chemical soil parameters in an efficient way. Nevertheless, relationships between the electrical parameters (electrical conductivity or resistivity) and other soil properties are not always consistent over different fields. This can, to some extent, be due to the characteristics of instruments used for soil mapping. However, a limited amount of research has addressed this issue. In this study, seven instruments for mobile mapping (continuous geoelectrical measurements) available on the market were tested (ARP 03, CM-138, EM38, EM38-DD, EM38-MK2, OhmMapper and Veris 3100). Instruments were employed on a sandy site in north-east Germany. Measurements were compared to a profile, which has been investigated with a high accuracy reference. Additional investigations were conducted concerning the influences of temperature drift, seasonal variations and soil properties on soil EC. Marked differences between the instruments were found with respect to depth of investigation, accuracy and handling that have to be taken into account when geoelectrical surveys are planned or interpreted. Regarding depth of investigation and robustness of the measurements, ARP 03 and Veris 3100 seem to be the most suitable instruments for precision agriculture.

Electrical conductivity mapping for precision farming

Precision farming overcomes the paradigm of uniform field treatment by site-specific data acquisition and treatment to cope with within-field variability. Precision farming heavily relies on spatially dense information about soil and crop status. While it is often difficult and expensive to obtain precise soil information by traditional soil sampling and laboratory analysis some geophysical methods offer means to obtain subsidiary data in an efficient way. In particular, geoelectrical soil mapping has become widely accepted in precision farming. At present it is the most successful geophysical method providing the spatial distribution of relevant agronomic information that enables us to determine management zones for precision farming. Much work has been done to test the applicability of existing geoelectrical methods and to develop measurement systems applicable in the context of precision farming. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to introduce the basic ideas of precision farming, to discuss current precision farming applied geoelectrical methods and instruments and to give an overview about our corresponding activities during recent years. Different experiments were performed both in the laboratory and in the field to estimate first, electrical conductivity affecting factors, second, relationships between direct push and surface measurements, third, the seasonal stability of electrical conductivity patterns and fourth, the relationship between plant yield and electrical conductivity. From the results of these experiments, we concluded that soil texture is a very dominant factor in electrical conductivity mapping. Soil moisture affects both the level and the dynamic range of electrical conductivity readings. Nevertheless, electrical conductivity measurements can be principally performed independent of season. However, electrical conductivity field mapping does not produce reliable maps of spatial particle size distribution of soils, e.g., necessary to generate input parameters for water and nutrient transport models. The missing step to achieve this aim may be to develop multi-sensor systems that allow adjusting the electrical conductivity measurement from the influence of different soil water contents.

Potentials and constraints of different types of soil moisture observations for flood simulations in headwater catchments

Flood generation in mountainous headwater catchments is governed by rainfall intensities, by the spatial distribution of rainfall and by the state of the catchment prior to the rainfall, e.g. by the spatial pattern of the soil moisture, groundwater conditions and possibly snow. The work presented here explores the limits and potentials of measuring soil moisture with different methods and in different scales and their potential use for flood simulation. These measurements were obtained in 2007 and 2008 within a comprehensive multi-scale experiment in the Weisseritz headwater catchment in the Ore-Mountains, Germany. The following technologies have been applied jointly thermogravimetric method, frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) sensors, spatial time domain reflectometry (STDR) cluster, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), airborne polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (polarimetric SAR) and advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) based on the satellite Envisat. We present exemplary soil measurement results, with spatial scales ranging from point scale, via hillslope and field scale, to the catchment scale. Only the spatial TDR cluster was able to record continuous data. The other methods are limited to the date of over-flights (airplane and satellite) or measurement campaigns on the ground. For possible use in flood simulation, the observation of soil moisture at multiple scales has to be combined with suitable hydrological modelling, using the hydrological model WaSiM-ETH. Therefore, several simulation experiments have been conducted in order to test both the usability of the recorded soil moisture data and the suitability of a distributed hydrological model to make use of this information. The measurement results show that airborne-based and satellite-based systems in particular provide information on the near-surface spatial distribution. However, there are still a variety of limitations, such as the need for parallel ground measurements (Envisat ASAR), uncertainties in polarimetric decomposition techniques (polarimetric SAR), very limited information from remote sensing methods about vegetated surfaces and the non-availability of continuous measurements. The model experiments showed the importance of soil moisture as an initial condition for physically based flood modelling. However, the observed moisture data reflect the surface or near-surface soil moisture only. Hence, only saturated overland flow might be related to these data. Other flood generation processes influenced by catchment wetness in the subsurface such as subsurface storm flow or quick groundwater drainage cannot be assessed by these data. One has to acknowledge that, in spite of innovative measuring techniques on all spatial scales, soil moisture data for entire vegetated catchments are still today not operationally available. Therefore, observations of soil moisture should primarily be used to improve the quality of continuous, distributed hydrological catchment models that simulate the spatial distribution of moisture internally. Thus, when and where soil moisture data are available, they should be compared with their simulated equivalents in order to improve the parameter estimates and possibly the structure of the hydrological model.

Seismic sources for shallow investigations: A field comparison from Northern Germany

Abstract A field test of 14 seismic P-wave sources was designed to show the capabilities of several sources for shallow subsurface investigations in the quaternary landscapes of Northern Germany. The sources included accelerated dropped weights, shallow blasts, a shotgun using blank cartridges and controlled signal sources. Local changes in subsurface conditions showed a strong influence on the recorded data, so it proved necessary to record up to 120 shots per source in order to get representative results and to compare not only single shot records but stacked sections as well. Reducing the geophone spacing to 1 m, it became possible to trace very local features like fluctuations in travel times or in the recorded amplitudes. The amplitude spectra of the recorded traces indicated energy at frequencies up to 200 Hz and showed remarkable spatial changes due to different subsurface conditions near the receiver locations. Changes in signal form and amplitude due to compacting effects were visible in the first four impacts of strong sources.

1D sequential inversion of portable multi-configuration electromagnetic induction data

We present an algorithm that performs sequentially one-dimensional inversion of subsurface magnetic permeability and electrical conductivity by using multi-configuration electromagnetic induction sensor data. The presented method is based on the conversion of the in-phase and out-of-phase data into effective magnetic permeability and electrical conductivity of the equivalent homogeneous half-space. In the case of small-offset systems, such as portable electromagnetic induction sensors, for which in-phase and out-of-phase data are moderately coupled, the effective half-space magnetic permeability and electrical conductivity can be inverted sequentially within an iterative scheme. We test and evaluate the proposed inversion strategy using synthetic and field examples. First, we apply it to synthetic data for some highly magnetic environments. Then, the method is tested on real field data acquired in a basaltic environment to image a formation of archaeological interest. These examples demonstrate that a joint interpretation of in-phase and out-of-phase data leads to a better characterisation of the subsurface in magnetic environments such as volcanic areas.

Properties of soils from the Swedish long-term fertility experiments: VI. Mapping soil electrical conductivity with different geophysical methods

Abstract Swedish long-term soil fertility experiments were used to investigate the effect of texture and fertilization regime on soil electrical conductivity. In one geophysical approach, fields were mapped to characterize the horizontal variability in apparent electrical conductivity down to 1.5 m soil depth using an electromagnetic induction meter (EM38 device). The data obtained were geo-referenced by dGPS. The other approach consisted of measuring the vertical variability in electrical conductivity along transects using a multi-electrode apparatus for electrical resistivity tomography (GeoTom RES/IP device) down to 2 m depth. Geophysical field work was complemented by soil analyses. The results showed that despite 40 years of different fertilization regimes, treatments had no significant effects on the apparent electrical conductivity. Instead, the comparison of sites revealed high and low conductivity soils, with gradual differences explained by soil texture. A significant, linear relationship found between apparent electrical conductivity and soil clay content explained 80% of the variability measured. In terms of soil depth, both low and high electrical conductivity values were measured. Abrupt changes in electrical conductivity within a field revealed the presence of ‘deviating areas’. Higher values corresponded well with layers with a high clay content, while local inclusions of coarse-textured materials caused a high variability in conductivity in some fields. The geophysical methods tested provided useful information on the variability in soil texture at the experimental sites. The use of spatial EC variability as a co-variable in statistical analysis could be a complementary tool in the evaluation of experimental results.

Some results of deep seismic investigations in East Germany

Abstract In recent years, several deep seismic investigations have been carried out in the central and southern part of East Germany. In the present paper, the results for P-wave velocity distributions are shown and discussed. Some typical crustal features, such as low-velocity layers, were found in some cases. The Moho was found to ascend from the SE towards the NW, with some interruptions. For several profiles, the S-wave arrivals also were interpreted. The simultaneous evaluation of P- and S-wave velocities were used to obtain information on the behaviour of the elastic parameters λ and μ, respectively. The seismic models discussed in the present paper have been confirmed by modelling the gravity field, and the results have been published elsewhere.

Active faulting in a populated low-strain setting (Lower Rhine Graben, Central Europe) identified by geomorphic, geophysical and geological analysis

Abstract The Lower Rhine Graben (Central Europe) is a prime example of a seismically active low-strain rift zone characterized by pronounced anthropogenic and climatic overprint of structures, and long recurrence intervals of large earthquakes. These factors render the identification of active faults and surface ruptures difficult. We investigated two fault scarps in the Lower Rhine Graben, to decipher their structural character, offset and potential seismogenic origin. Both scarps were modified by anthropogenic activity. The Hemmerich site lies c. 20 km SW of Cologne, along the Erft Fault. The Untermaubach site lies SW of Düren, where the Schafberg Fault projects into the Rur River valley. At the Hemmerich site, geomorphic and geophysical data, as well as exploratory coring reveal evidence of repeated normal faulting. Geophysical analysis and palaeoseismological excavation at the Untermaubach site reveal a complex fault zone in Holocene gravels characterized by subtle gravel deformation. Differentiation of tectonic and fluvial features was only possible with trenching, because fault structures and grain sizes of the sediments were below the resolution of the geophysical data. Despite these issues, our investigation demonstrates that valuable insight into past earthquakes and seismogenic deformation in a low-strain environment can be revealed using a multidisciplinary approach.

Data Adaptive Denoising of Magnetic Anomaly Maps

In the past one to two decades, a number of data adaptive denoising tools have been proposed in the image processing community. The basic idea of these filter approaches is to establish the filter weights by considering the actual sampling values, their local statistics and similarities. This helps to minimize image blurring and to preserve edges and corners. As such filter characteristics are also desirable for noise attenuation in near-surface magnetic data sets, we propose to adopt these methods for processing magnetic anomaly maps collected across archaeological targets. Here, we test and evaluate two selected methods (a generalized Kuwahara-style filter and the steering kernel method) to denoise a magnetic data set collected across Neolithic ring structure in Germany. Our results show that both methods are successful in removing prominent noise features present in our data. Concurrently, they largely preserve local structures; i.e., blurred images as typically observed after applying filters using a fixed filter mask are avoided. Thus, the methods can be considered as promising and novel approaches for denoising magnetic data sets.

Comparison between 1D Inversion of Geophilus Data and 2D Inversion of Wenner Array Data

Summary When comparing the sensitivity function of the automatic resistivity profiler GEOPHILUS to the one of the WENNER array, one can see that the GEOPHILUS system is especially well designed for a 1D interpretation. In this study, we therefore compare the 1D inversion of GEOPHILUS data to the 2D inversion of WENNER data on a selected test site where the ground trust is known. The results show that the 1D inversion of GEOPHILUS data provides similar tomograms as the 2D inversion of WENNER data. In the future, the 1D interpretation will be a first choice for processing large GEOPHILUS data sets.