Assessing vertical soil moisture dynamics using multi-frequency GPR common-midpoint soundings

SummarySoil moisture measurement techniques are of utmost importance to vadose zone hydrologists. Surface hydrogeophysical methods, such as ground-penetrating radar (GPR), have the capacity to provide field-scale soil moisture information across a range of depth scales. This paper presents an extensive field study using multi-frequency (i.e., 225 MHz, 450 MHz, 900 MHz) GPR common-midpoint (CMP) soundings to monitor a complete annual cycle of soil moisture conditions at three distinct sites. We examine the use of normal-moveout (NMO) velocity analysis applied to CMP data for monitoring highly dynamic vertical soil moisture conditions in a mid-latitude climate consisting of wetting/drying and freeze/thaw cycles with varying degrees of magnitude and vertical velocity gradient. NMO velocity analysis is used to construct interval-velocity-depth models at a fixed location collected every 1–4 weeks. These time-lapse models are combined to construct temporal interval-velocity fields, which are converted into soil moisture content using an appropriate petrophysical relationship. Using these moisture fields, we were able to characterize the vertical distribution and dynamics of soil moisture in the shallow vadose zone. Although the use of multiple antenna frequencies provided varying investigation depths and vertical resolving capabilities, optimal characterization of soil moisture conditions was obtained with high-frequency 900 MHz antennas. The integration of direct ground wave and NMO velocity data from a single CMP sounding allowed us to better refine the shallow soil moisture profile and underlying vadose zone conditions during seasonal wetting, drying and freezing cycles. This study demonstrates the capacity of GPR to characterize vertical moisture dynamics, and highlights the importance of collecting high-resolution data along the air–soil interface to resolve the water content profile from the surface down to the deeper vadose zone conditions.

► Successfully characterized seasonal trends in vertical moisture distribution.
► NMO interval-velocity determination permitted moisture measurements at discrete depths.
► DGW data enabled examination of hydraulic coupling between surface and deeper soil.
► 900 MHz antennas yielded most reliable velocity and water content measurements.
► Extracted qualitative information about the nature of seasonal moisture dynamics.