Soil moisture estimation via radio wave reflection method using ground penetrating radar

Soil moisture is one of the critical parameters to be considered in civil, geological and agricultural works. Unfortunately, the challenging issue is found on a suitable model in determining the soil moisture accurately. In this article, the concept and development of soil moisture measurements via ground penetrating radar (GPR) principle is presented. This work is implemented is simulation and lab measurement. The result of the research is promising with high percentage of agreement with Topp theoretical value. The values are 31% to 61% for sand, 5% to 42% for clay, and 44% to 54% for loamy. In order to validate the proposed system, a new type of soil have been prepared and used for measurement, and the result has an accuracy of 93%. By using the proposed developed models, soil moisture estimation can be easily determined with minimal data input in real time through a novelty GPR soil moisture method.