GNGTS 2014 - Atti del 33° Convegno Nazionale

Radargram of Fig. 3b, acquired 24 hours after irrigation, shows the area between 0 and 0.3 m depth characterized by a significant attenuation of the electromagnetic signal, which is associated to the increased presence of water. Conversely, in the deeper layers no significant variations are observable compared to the radargram of Fig. 3a, confirming when obtained with the ERT surveys that the water is distributed, mainly in the first 30-40 cm of the soil, where was observed a higher root density. Conclusions. The availability of water more than any other environmental factor is important for the physiological activity of the plants and thus for crops productivity. It is necessary, therefore, that water supplies are available for root uptake, and at the same time reduce losses due percolation of water given to excess. In this context the use of an integrated system through a network of sensors, allows monitoring of the soil moisture content for a specific crop in a given soil. Moreover, the application of these non-invasive geophysical technologies to irrigation were used in the most varied application fields, and have several advantages as such being fast techniques, their measurement systems utilize technologies proven with consequent cost reduction and are not dangerous for the operators. Acknowledgements. The authors wish to thank the Agency for the Agricultural Development and Innovation of Lucania, Basilicata Region ,Italy (ALSIA) for the technical support and the availability during the field activities. References Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D., Smith, M.; 1998: Crop Evapotranspiration Guidelines for Computing Crop Water Requirements. FAO Irrigation and drainage. Paper 56 . Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Annan, A.P., Cosway, S.W., Redman, J.D.; 1991: Water table detection with ground penetrating radar. Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Expanded Abstracts 61st Annual Meeting, 1 , 494–495. Butnor J.R, Doolittle JA, Johnsen KH, Samuelson L, Stokes T, Kress L ; 2003: Utility of Ground-Penetrating Radar as a Root Biomass Survey Tool in Forest Systems . Soil Sci Soc Am J, 67 , 1607–1615. Butnor J.R, Doolittle JA, Kress L, Cohen S, Johnsen KH ; 2001: Use of ground-penetrating radar to study tree roots in the southeastern United States. Tree Physiol, 21 , 1269–1278. Dahlin, T.,Aronsson, P., Hagevi,A., Wall, E. and Thörnelöf, M.2006: Resistivity monitoring of an irrigation experiment at Högbytorp , Sweden, Procs. Near Surface 2006 - 12 th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics,Helsinki, Finland. Daniels D.J.; 2004: Ground Penetrating Radar . 2nd Ed. The Institution of Electrical Engineers, London. Fig. 3 – GPR radargrams acquired with antenna 400MHz before irrigation (a) and after irrigation (b). 232 GNGTS 2014 S essione 3.3