Optimized ground penetrating radar methods can account for landscape variance in properties informing soil carbon distribution in boreal forest hillslopes ...

• Main Author: Gates, Zachary W.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2023
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48336/7mrz-qq82; https://research.library.mun.ca/15859/

This thesis entailed developing optimized ground penetrating radar (GPR) methods for estimating soil horizon thickness and bulk density to determine soil carbon (C) distribution across forest hillslopes. A review of forest GPR studies was conducted to synthesize optimized system settings, survey parameters, and data processing steps. Recommended GPR survey settings (> 500 MHz antenna frequency, > 32 stacks, 5 cm sampling interval) and data processing tools were compiled for forest soil surveys and demonstrated to improve the interpretability of specific soil targets (ex. soil horizon boundaries, rock, and root content) in forest soil radargrams. Physical soil sampling and GPR surveying methods were conducted across a boreal forest hillslope in Pynn’s Brook, Newfoundland to collect small (1 m² soil pits) and large (80 m GPR survey lines) spatial scale soil horizon thickness and bulk density estimates. This allowed for comparisons between physical soil sampling and GPR estimates of soil horizon ...