Application of Ground Penetrating Radar to Soil Survey
R. W. Johnson, R. Glasscum, R. J. Wojtasinski · Soil Survey Horizons · 1982
Soil surveys are made by soil scientists walking over the land and examining the soil with various kinds of manual and mechanical probes and augers. The number of observations made with these tools to classify the soil and to determine soil boundaries is limited by available time and money. Quality and quantity of soil surveys could be improved if faster and less laborious methods were used. The main purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using ground penetrating radar (GPR) in making soil surveys. Other objectives were to determine if improvements in the GPR system were needed for this purpose, and to determine the best procedures for using GPR in soil survey. The GPR was tested at two locations in central Florida. Both had order 2 soil surveys and had several contrasting soils. Approximately 8 km of transects were run with the GPR. Ground truth was made by borings at intervals of 30 m along the lines of transect. Data from both sources were compared with the soil maps. The GPR data were generally of excellent quality, accurately measuring the depth to and thickness of several kinds of soil horizons. We conclude that GPR is an effective supplemental tool for surveying certain kings of soil.