Assessing the applicability of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Techniques for estimating soil water content and irrigation requirements in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: A project methodology.

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has distinct and serious water deficit problem. KSA lies between 16o 22’ and 32o 14’ North latitudes and 34o 29’ and 55o 40’ East longitudes, in an arid to semi-arid climate. The country has a low average annual precipitation ranges from 80 mm to 140 mm, with limited natural water resources. There are no lakes, rivers, or streams; consequently, the country is increasingly dependent on fossil groundwater resources, which receive very limited natural recharge, for intensive agriculture and mainly for irrigation that consumes about 85% of total water supply. This paper presents a review of the application of GPR technology to estimate soil water content (SWC), underlines and discusses promising methodology of a two-year research project (submitted by Al-Shuhail & Ouda, 2012) for funding by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology – Saudi Arabia. GPR technique will be used to measure agricultural field SWC as an accurate, precise and alternative method to conventional measurements methods in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. A new irrigation scheduling methods based on tested and modified GPR technique will be introduced and applied to the common agricultural crops in the target area. This technology transferred technique will play major role in improving the irrigation efficiency and minimizing the agricultural water consumption.