Application of the Ground Penetrating Radar ARMA power spectrum estimation method to detect moisture content and compactness values in sandy loam

• We used ARMA power spectrum analysis for GPR data processing.
• We analyzed the distribution of power spectrum data of GPR.
• Built relation models of power spectrum distribution & sandy loam moisture content
• Built relation models of power spectrum distribution & sandy loam compactness

Much of the western region of China is covered by sandy loam. The moisture content and compactness value of the sandy loam are important indices that determine vegetation growth rates. However, traditional drilling and sampling methods during the course of quality evaluation of land consolidation work cannot obtain continuous, accurate, and complete evaluation results. Therefore, a fast and accurate method is required to determine these parameters for land consolidation work in such areas. In this study, using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology for the evaluation of the quality of land consolidation engineering and the Autoregressive–Moving-Average (ARMA) power spectrum estimation for the data analysis, the characteristics of the distribution of sandy loam with varying values of compactness and differing moisture contents have been researched and analyzed. According to the variational power distribution of ARMA spectrum frequency domain caused by different moisture contents and compactness values, the best-fitting spectrum distribution characteristics have been established for these two indices, and two relation models have been built respectively. By comparison with moisture content data and compactness values collected by sampling and drying method or other equipment, it is demonstrated that the estimation method using the GPR ARMA power spectrum is effective and efficient in sandy loam's detection, and it is of considerable importance in the inspection of land consolidation engineering quality.