Between two furrows: soil bulk density from non-invasive seismology
Tsekhmistrenko, M., Collins, J., Bloem, H., Fallah, T., Ritsema, J., Jeffery, S. and Nissen-Meyer, T. (2025) Between two furrows: soil bulk density from non-invasive seismology. Environmental Research Communications, 7 (11). ISSN 2515-7620
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Abstract
Soil is a critical resource for global food security. However, traditional physical analyses of soil samples and geophysical imaging techniques are often labour intensive and time-consuming. This study investigates the potential of ultra high-frequency (> 500 Hz) hammer-source seismology to characterise the physical properties of soil at the decimetre scale. We conducted experiments within a long-term field experiment near Harper Adams University (UK) aimed at comparing Conservation and Conventional agriculture. We surveyed two meter-and-a-half sections of each agricultural treatment with 16 geophones and collected soil samples with the same horizontal resolution. Our estimates of the P-wave velocity ( v p ) and bulk density in the upper 40 cm of the soil reveal a strong and statistically significant correlation. Consistent correlation of bulk density and v p throughout the depth profile were observed between the seismic images and interpolated bulk density data derived from physical soil samples. Our work demonstrates that ultra-high frequency seismic analysis is a promising, cost-effective tool for estimating soil bulk density, in support of agronomic and land-management decision making, and improving the accuracy of soil carbon stock quantification.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | bulkdensity, imaging, instrumentation, soil, seismology |
| Divisions: | Agriculture and Environment (from 1.08.20) |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Susan Howe |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Dec 2025 13:35 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2025 13:35 |
| URI: | https://hau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18296 |
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