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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbus, Ohio » Soil Drainage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #146892
Title: LOCATING OLD DRAIN TILE USING RADAR

Author
item Allred, Barry

Submitted to: Ohio Country Journal
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/2/2003
Publication Date: 2/1/2003
Citation: ALLRED, B.J. LOCATING OLD DRAIN TILE USING RADAR. OHIO COUNTRY JOURNAL. 2003.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Data collected with Ground Penetrating Radar can be used to produce profiles of the subsurface or maps showing the amount of reflected radar energy from a particular depth interval. As part of a study funded by the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center at OSU, GPR grid surveys were conducted on 11 test plots in southwest, central, and northwest Ohio. This technology was able to locate 100% of the drainage pipe at six sites, 90% at one site, 75% at two sites, 50% at one site and 0% at one site. Because GPR located about 80% of the tile overall, the results show this method can be quite successful in finding clay and plastic tile down to depths of around 3 feet within a variety of soil materials. More investigation is needed under a greater range of field conditions to improve the accuracy and reliability.