scholarly journals Mapping tree root systems with ground-penetrating radar

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hruska ◽  
J. Cermak ◽  
S. Sustek
Keyword(s):  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Ground Penetrating

scholarly journals Advanced GPR Signal Processing Techniques for Root Detection in Urban Environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Lantini ◽  
Fabio Tosti ◽  
Iraklis Giannakis ◽  
Kevin Jagadissen Munisami ◽  
Dale Mortimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
Root Detection ◽  
Charitable Trust ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
Non Destructive

<p>Street trees are widely recognised to be an essential asset for the urban environment, as they bring several environmental, social and economic benefits [1]. However, the conflicting coexistence of tree root systems with the built environment, and especially with road infrastructures, is often cause of extensive damage, such as the uplifting and cracking of sidewalks and curbs, which could seriously compromise the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.</p><p>In this context, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has long been proven to be an effective non-destructive testing (NDT) method for the evaluation and monitoring of road pavements. The effectiveness of this tool lies not only in its ease of use and cost-effectiveness, but also in the proven reliability of the results provided. Besides, recent studies have explored the capability of GPR in detecting and mapping tree roots [2]. Algorithms for the reconstruction of the tree root systems have been developed, and the spatial variations of root mass density have been also investigated [3].</p><p>The aim of this study is, therefore, to investigate the GPR potential in mapping the architecture of root systems in street trees. In particular, this research aims to improve upon the existing methods for detection of roots, focusing on the identification of the road pavement layers. In this way, different advanced signal processing techniques can be applied at specific sections, in order to remove reflections from the pavement layers without affecting root detection. This allows, therefore, to reduce false alarms when investigating trees with root systems developing underneath road pavements.</p><p>In this regard, data from trees of different species have been acquired and processed, using different antenna systems and survey methodologies, in an effort to investigate the impact of these parameters on the GPR overall performance.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Acknowledgements</strong></p><p>The authors would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to the following trusts, charities, organisations and individuals for their generosity in supporting this project: Lord Faringdon Charitable Trust, The Schroder Foundation, Cazenove Charitable Trust, Ernest Cook Trust, Sir Henry Keswick, Ian Bond, P. F. Charitable Trust, Prospect Investment Management Limited, The Adrian Swire Charitable Trust, The John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust, The Sackler Trust, The Tanlaw Foundation, and The Wyfold Charitable Trust. This paper is dedicated to the memory of our colleague and friend Jonathan West, one of the original supporters of this research project.</p><p> </p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>[1] J. Mullaney, T. Lucke, S. J. Trueman, 2015. “A review of benefits and challenges in growing street trees in paved urban environments,” Landscape and Urban Planning, 134, 157-166.</p><p>[2] A. M. Alani, L. Lantini, 2019. “Recent advances in tree root mapping and assessment using non-destructive testing methods: a focus on ground penetrating radar,” Surveys in Geophysics, 1-42.</p><p>[3] L. Lantini, F. Tosti, Giannakis, I., Egyir, D., A. Benedetto, A. M. Alani, 2019. “A Novel Processing Framework for Tree Root Mapping and Density Estimation using Ground Penetrating Radar,” In 10th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar, EAGE.</p>

scholarly journals Ground-Penetrating Radar as phenotyping tool for characterizing intraspecific variability in root traits of a widespread conifer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Lombardi ◽  
Juan Pedro Ferrio ◽  
Ulises Rodríguez-Robles ◽  
Víctor Resco de Dios ◽  
Jordi Voltas
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Root Traits ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Mediterranean Forests ◽  
High Throughput Phenotyping ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Root Frequency

Abstract Background and Aim Drought is the main abiotic stress affecting Mediterranean forests. Root systems are responsible for water uptake, but intraspecific variability in tree root morphology is poorly understood mainly owing to sampling difficulties. The aim of this study was to gain knowledge on the adaptive relevance of rooting traits for a widespread pine using a non-invasive, high-throughput phenotyping technique. Methods Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used to characterize variability in coarse root features (depth, diameter and frequency) among populations of the Mediterranean conifer Pinus halepensis evaluated in a common garden. GPR records were examined in relation to aboveground growth and climate variables at origin of populations. Results Variability was detected for root traits among 56 range-wide populations categorized into 16 ecotypes. Root diameter decreased eastward within the Mediterranean basin. In turn, root frequency, but not depth and diameter, decreased following a northward gradient. Root traits also varied with climatic variables at origin such as the ratio of summer to annual precipitation, summer temperature or solar radiation. Particularly, root frequency increased with aridity, whereas root depth and diameter were maximum for ecotypes occupying the thermal midpoint of the species distribution range. Conclusion GPR is a high-throughput phenotyping tool that allows detection of intraspecific variation in root traits of P. halepensis and its dependencies on eco-geographic characteristics at origin, thereby informing on the adaptive relevance of root systems for the species. It is also potentially suited for inferring population divergence in resource allocation above- and belowground in forest genetic trials.

scholarly journals On the Use of Short-Time Fourier Transform for the Analysis of Tree Root Systems using Ground Penetrating Radar

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Lantini ◽  
Fabio Tosti ◽  
Luca Bianchini Ciampoli ◽  
Amir M. Alani
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Fourier Transform ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Short Time Fourier Transform ◽  
Charitable Trust ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Root Mapping

<p>Monitoring and protecting natural assets is increasingly important today, as aggressive pathogens are negatively impacting the trees' survival. In this regard, root systems are affected by fungal infections that cause roots’ rot and eventually lead to trees' death. Such disease can spread rapidly to the adjacent trees and affect larger areas. Since these decays generally do not display visible signs, early identification is the key to tree preservation.</p><p>Within this context, non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are becoming popular, being more versatile than destructive methods. Specifically, ground penetrating radar (GPR) is emerging as an accurate geophysical method for tree root mapping. Recent research has focused on implementing automated algorithms for 3D root mapping, improving root detection through advanced GPR signal processing and the estimation of tree roots' mass density [1]. Also, recent studies have proven that GPR is effective in mapping the root system's architecture of street trees [2].</p><p>The present research reports the preliminary results of an experimental study, conducted to investigate the feasibility of a novel tree root assessment methodology based on the analysis of GPR data both in time and frequency domain. To this end, data were processed using a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) approach [3], which allows the evaluation of how the frequency spectrum changes across the signal propagation time window. The suggested processing system may be implemented for expeditious analyses or on trees challenging to access, such as in urban environments, where more comprehensive survey methods are not applicable. The objectives of this study, therefore, are to investigate how different features (i.e., roots, layers) affect the time-frequency analysis of GPR data, and to identify recurring patterns in the results to set a coherent data processing methodology.</p><p>Results' interpretation has shown the viability of the presented approach in recognising the influence of different features on the analysis of GPR data as it changes over time. This also allowed the detection of recurring patterns in the analysed data, proving that this method is worthy of further investigations.</p><p>Acknowledgements<br>The authors would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to the following trusts, charities, organisations and individuals for their generosity in supporting this project: Lord Faringdon Charitable Trust, The Schroder Foundation, Cazenove Charitable Trust, Ernest Cook Trust, Sir Henry Keswick, Ian Bond, P. F. Charitable Trust, Prospect Investment Management Limited, The Adrian Swire Charitable Trust, The John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust, The Sackler Trust, The Tanlaw Foundation, and The Wyfold Charitable Trust.</p><p><br>References<br>[1]     Lantini, L., Tosti, F., Giannakis, I., Zou, L., Benedetto, A. and Alani, A. M., 2020. "An Enhanced Data Processing Framework for Mapping Tree Root Systems Using Ground Penetrating Radar," Remote Sensing 12(20), 3417.<br>[2]     Lantini, L., Alani, A., Giannakis, I., Benedetto, A. and Tosti, F., 2020. "Application of ground penetrating radar for mapping tree root system architecture and mass density of street trees," Advances in Transportation Studies (3), 51-62.<br>[3]     Bianchini Ciampoli, L., Calvi, A. and D'Amico, F., 2019. "Railway Ballast Monitoring by GPR: A Test Site Investigation," Remote Sensing 11(20), 238</p>

Detecting stemflow-induced preferential flow pathways through time-lapse ground-penetrating radar surveys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmila Roder ◽  
Simone Di Prima ◽  
Sergio Campus ◽  
Filippo Giadrossich ◽  
Ryan D. Stewart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Overland Flow ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Blue Dye ◽  
Horizontal Distance ◽  
Tree Trunk ◽  
Ground Penetrating

<p>Research over the past several decades has shown that preferential flow is more the rule than the exception. However, our collective understanding of preferential flow processes has been limited by a lack of suitable methods to detect and visualize the initiation and evolution of non-uniform wetting at high spatial and temporal resolutions, particularly in real-world settings. In this study, we investigate water infiltration initiation by tree trunk and root systems. We carried out time-lapse ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys in conjunction with a simulated stemflow event to provide evidence of root-induced preferential flow and generate a three-dimensional representation of the wetted zone.</p><p>We established a survey grid (3.5 m × 5 m, with a local slope of 10.3°), consisting of ten horizontal and thirteen vertical parallel survey lines with 0.5 m intervals between them. The horizontal lines were downslope-oriented. The grid was placed around a Quercus suber L. We collected a total of 46 (2 GPR surveys × 23 survey lines) radargrams using an IDS (Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.A.) Ris Hi Mod v. 1.0 system with a 900-MHz antenna mounted on a GPR cart. Two grid GPR surveys were carried out before and after the artificial stemflow experiment. In the experiment, we applied 100 L of brilliant blue dye (E133) solution on the tree trunk. The stemflow volume of 100 L corresponded to 63.2 mm of incident precipitation, considering a crown projected area of 201 m<sup>2</sup> and a 1.3% conversion rate of rainfall to stemflow. Trench profiles were carefully excavated with hand tools to remove soil and detect both root location and size and areas of infiltration and preferential pathways on the soil profile.</p><p>The majority (84.4%) of artificially applied stemflow infiltrated into the soil, while the remaining 15.6% generated overland flow, which was collected by a small v-shaped plastic channel placed into a groove previously scraped on the downhill side of the tree. The 3D diagram clearly demarcated the dimension and shape of the wetted zone, thus providing evidence of root-induced preferential flow along coarse roots. The wetted zone extended downslope up to a horizontal distance of 3 m from the trunk and down to a depth of approximately 0.7 m. Put all together, this study shows the importance of accounting for plant and trees trunk and root systems when quantifying infiltration.</p>

scholarly journals An Enhanced Data Processing Framework for Mapping Tree Root Systems Using Ground Penetrating Radar

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Lantini ◽  
Fabio Tosti ◽  
Iraklis Giannakis ◽  
Lilong Zou ◽  
Andrea Benedetto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Continuous Functions ◽  
Tree Roots ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Data Analysis System ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Processing Framework

The preservation of natural assets is nowadays an essential commitment. In this regard, root systems are endangered by fungal diseases which can undermine the health and stability of trees. Within this framework, ground penetrating radar (GPR) is emerging as a reliable non-destructive method for root investigation. A coherent GPR-based root-detection framework is presented in this paper. The proposed methodology is a multi-stage data analysis system that is applied to semi-circular measurements collected around the investigated tree. In the first step, the raw data are processed by applying several standard and advanced signal processing techniques in order to reduce noise-related information. In the second stage, the presence of any discontinuity element within the survey area is investigated by analysing the signal reflectivity. Then, a tracking algorithm aimed at identifying patterns compatible with tree roots is implemented. Finally, the mass density of roots is estimated by means of continuous functions in order to achieve a more realistic representation of the root paths and to identify their length in a continuous and more realistic domain. The method was validated in a case study in London (UK), where the root system of a real tree was surveyed using GPR and a soil test pit was excavated for validation purposes. Results support the feasibility of the data processing framework implemented in this study.

REFLECTION COEFFICIENT OF AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE IN CONDUCTIVE MEDIA

2018 ◽  
pp. 100-106
Author(s):  
M. S. Sudakova ◽  
M. L. Vladov ◽  
M. R. Sadurtdinov
Keyword(s):  
Reflection Coefficient ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Electromagnetic Waves ◽  
Water Contamination ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Direct And Inverse Problems ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Ideal Dielectric

Within the ground penetrating radar bandwidth the medium is considered to be an ideal dielectric, which is not always true. Electromagnetic waves reflection coefficient conductivity dependence showed a significant role of the difference in conductivity in reflection strength. It was confirmed by physical modeling. Conductivity of geological media should be taken into account when solving direct and inverse problems, survey design planning, etc. Ground penetrating radar can be used to solve the problem of mapping of halocline or determine water contamination.

Deteksi Bentuk Objek Bawah Tanah Menggunakan Pengolahan Citra B-Scan pada Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-83
Author(s):  
Rahmayati Alindra ◽  
Heroe Wijanto ◽  
Koredianto Usman
Keyword(s):  
Signal Processing ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Post Processing ◽  
Data Survey ◽  
Ground Penetrating

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) adalah salah satu jenis radar yang digunakan untuk menyelidiki kondisi di bawah permukaan tanah tanpa harus menggali dan merusak tanah. Sistem GPR terdiri atas pengirim (transmitter), yaitu antena yang terhubung ke generator sinyal dan bagian penerima (receiver), yaitu antena yang terhubung ke LNA dan ADC yang kemudian terhubung ke unit pengolahan data hasil survey serta display sebagai tampilan output-nya dan post  processing untuk alat bantu mendapatkan informasi mengenai suatu objek. GPR bekerja dengan cara memancarkan gelombang elektromagnetik ke dalam tanah dan menerima sinyal yang dipantulkan oleh objek-objek di bawah permukaan tanah. Sinyal yang diterima kemudian diolah pada bagian signal processing dengan tujuan untuk menghasilkan gambaran kondisi di bawah permukaan tanah yang dapat dengan mudah dibaca dan diinterpretasikan oleh user. Signal processing sendiri terdiri dari beberapa tahap yaitu A-Scan yang meliputi perbaikan sinyal dan pendektesian objek satu dimensi, B-Scan untuk pemrosesan data dua dimensi  dan C-Scan untuk pemrosesan data tiga dimensi. Metode yang digunakan pada pemrosesan B-Scan salah satunya adalah dengan  teknik pemrosesan citra. Dengan pemrosesan citra, data survey B-scan diolah untuk didapatkan informasi mengenai objek. Pada penelitian ini, diterapkan teori gradien garis pada pemrosesan citra B-scan untuk menentukan bentuk dua dimensi dari objek bawah tanah yaitu persegi, segitiga atau lingkaran. 

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