TY - JOUR
T1 - Application of an ultrasonic sensor to monitor soil erosion and deposition
AU - Knox, Jessica E.
AU - Mittelstet, Aaron R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge Santosh Pitla, Alex Drozda, and Alan Boldt from the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Hatch Project NEB-21-177). This material is also based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DGE-1735362. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Monitoring erosion at high temporal resolution can provide researchers and managers the data necessary to manage erosion. Current erosion monitoring methods tend to be invasive to the area of interest, record low-frequency measurements, have a narrow spatial range of measurement, or are expensive. There is a need for an affordable system capable of monitoring erosion and deposition non-invasively at high temporal resolution. The objectives of this research were to (1) design and construct a non-invasive sediment monitoring system (SMS) using an ultrasonic sensor capable of monitoring erosion and deposition continuously, (2) test the system in the lab and field, and (3) determine the applications and limitations of the system. The SMS was tested in the lab to determine the extent to which the soil type, slope, surface topography, change in distance, and vegetation impacted the measurements of the ultrasonic sensor. Soil type, slope, and surface topography had little effect on the measurement, but distance and the introduction of vegetation impacted the measurement. In the field during high flows, as erosion and deposition occurred, the changes in distance were determined in near real-time, allowing calculation of erosion and deposition quantities. The SMS was deployed to monitor deposition on sandy streambanks in the Nebraska Sandhills and erosion on a streambank and field plot in Lincoln, Nebraska. The SMS proved successful in measuring sediment change during high-flow events but yielded some error: ±1.06 mm in controlled lab settings and ±10.79 mm when subjected to environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, and wind.
AB - Monitoring erosion at high temporal resolution can provide researchers and managers the data necessary to manage erosion. Current erosion monitoring methods tend to be invasive to the area of interest, record low-frequency measurements, have a narrow spatial range of measurement, or are expensive. There is a need for an affordable system capable of monitoring erosion and deposition non-invasively at high temporal resolution. The objectives of this research were to (1) design and construct a non-invasive sediment monitoring system (SMS) using an ultrasonic sensor capable of monitoring erosion and deposition continuously, (2) test the system in the lab and field, and (3) determine the applications and limitations of the system. The SMS was tested in the lab to determine the extent to which the soil type, slope, surface topography, change in distance, and vegetation impacted the measurements of the ultrasonic sensor. Soil type, slope, and surface topography had little effect on the measurement, but distance and the introduction of vegetation impacted the measurement. In the field during high flows, as erosion and deposition occurred, the changes in distance were determined in near real-time, allowing calculation of erosion and deposition quantities. The SMS was deployed to monitor deposition on sandy streambanks in the Nebraska Sandhills and erosion on a streambank and field plot in Lincoln, Nebraska. The SMS proved successful in measuring sediment change during high-flow events but yielded some error: ±1.06 mm in controlled lab settings and ±10.79 mm when subjected to environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, and wind.
KW - Deposition
KW - Erosion
KW - Monitoring
KW - Ultrasonic sensor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107287330&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85107287330&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.13031/TRANS.14236
DO - 10.13031/TRANS.14236
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107287330
SN - 2151-0032
VL - 63
SP - 963
EP - 974
JO - Transactions of the ASABE
JF - Transactions of the ASABE
IS - 4
ER -