Using Additional Moderator to Control the Footprint of a COSMOS Rover for Soil Moisture Measurement
Author
Badiee, A.Wallbank, J.R.
Fentanes, J.P.
Trill, E.
Scarlet, P.
Zhu, Y.
Cielniak, G.
Cooper, H.
Blake, J.R.
Evans, J.G.
Zreda, M.
Köhli, M.
Pearson, S.

Affiliation
Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences Department, University of ArizonaIssue Date
2021Keywords
Cosmic neutroncosmic-ray soil moisture sensor
COSMOS Rover
footprint
neutron moderator
soil moisture
Metadata
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Blackwell Publishing LtdCitation
Badiee, A., Wallbank, J. R., Fentanes, J. P., Trill, E., Scarlet, P., Zhu, Y., Cielniak, G., Cooper, H., Blake, J. R., Evans, J. G., Zreda, M., Köhli, M., & Pearson, S. (2021). Using Additional Moderator to Control the Footprint of a COSMOS Rover for Soil Moisture Measurement. Water Resources Research, 57(6).Journal
Water Resources ResearchRights
Copyright © 2021. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probes (CRNP) have found application in soil moisture (SM) estimation due to their conveniently large (>100 m) footprints. Here, we explore the possibility of using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) moderator to limit the field of view, and hence, the footprint of a SM sensor formed of 12 CRNP mounted on to a mobile robotic platform (Thorvald) for better in-field localization of moisture variation. Ultra Rapid Adaptable Neutron-Only Simulation neutron scattering simulations are used to show that 5 cm of additional HDPE moderator (used to shield the upper surface and sides of the detector) is sufficient to (a) reduce the footprint of the detector considerably, (b) approximately double the percentage of neutrons detected from within 5 m of the detector, and (c) does not affect the shape of the curve used to convert neutron counts into SM. Simulation and rover measurements for a transect crossing between grass and concrete additionally suggest that (d) SM changes can be sensed over a length scales of tens of meters or less (roughly an order of magnitude smaller than commonly used footprint distances), and (e) the additional moderator does not reduce the detected neutron count rate (and hence increase noise) as much as might be expected given the extent of the additional moderator. The detector with additional HDPE moderator was also used to conduct measurements on a stubble field over three weeks to test the rover system in measuring spatial and temporal SM variation. © 2021. The Authors.Note
Open access articleISSN
0043-1397Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1029/2020WR028478
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © 2021. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.