Small scale determination of volumetric water content distribution in the uppermost soil

Mapping and tracing the water content in the uppermost soil is of great interest for a variety to different scientific disciplines. Since many processes are linked to the volumetric water content and its dynamics, the scale of interest ranges from kilometers, like flood prevention or climate research, to submeters, like matter transport inside the subsurface. With the availability of shielded high frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) antennas, a non- respectively minimally invasive geophysical tool, valuable information concerning the water content can be obtained with a spatial resolution in the range of a few decimeters. We give here an overview of different GPR applications with a focus on data accuracy and the suitability of the method for monitoring purposes. The data presented here were gathered in two projects involving different disciplines such as soil physics, zoology or environmental chemistry.