Location: Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Research
Project Number: 2032-13220-002-026-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2024
End Date: Aug 31, 2026
Objective:
Use innovative sensors to quantify atmospheric and subsurface fluxes of water, energy, and contaminants at field sites.
Approach:
Field sites have been setup to determine plant water use and to capture and store storm water into aquifers for subsequently recovery by irrigated agriculture. Knowledge of atmospheric and subsurface fluxes of water, energy, and contaminants are needed to monitor and assess the performance of these field sites to improve irrigation efficiency and managed aquifer recharge (MAR). Innovative sensor technologies have recently been developed for this purpose, including the use of fiber optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS), fiber optic distributed stress sensing (DSS), and cosmic ray neutron sensing (CRNS). Field studies will be initiated to determine the ability of these and other sensor technologies to better quantify atmospheric and subsurface fluxes of water, energy, and contaminants at field sites. Specific applications DTS and CRNS include measurement of evapotranspiration, water content, temperature fluxes, water storage in the root zone, and deep drainage in specialty crop fields. DTS and DSS will also be used to measure infiltration during MAR, in streams, and in canals, and rates of water redistribution, recharge, groundwater flow directions, and land subsidence in monitoring wells. Water flow information is needed to assess the fate of contaminants at field sites.
