4D optimized GPR surveys

[Brian BrookshireParticipant]

Has anyone explored the use of 4D optimized ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys for truffle orchard surveillance?  There are some limited examples of this in the scientific literature, but ostensibly no well-developed methodologies.  I’m thinking about doing a baseline survey in my new orchard and subsequent monitoring surveys.  After having spent countless hours developing methods to find subsurface boulders in large-scale 3D geophysical datasets (wind turbine foundation surveys), scaling down to look at anomalies associated with subsurface fruiting bodies should not be a big leap.  If anyone else is interested in exploring this at some point, let me know.

[Tim RobardsParticipant]

I am interested Brian. I’m just putting in an orchard. A couple of things come to mind, 1) a designed experiment with buried items at different densities  and depths in different soils would be a rigorous scientific test perhaps but a lot of work, 2) it might be that a double sample technique where this technology and dogs combined provides the best recovery but how to combine them effectively is a question. My background is forestry biostatistics so sorry for going nerd on you. Tim

[Brian BrookshireParticipant]

Hi Tim, thanks for responding. I’m with you, designing an experiment to test different density objects in different sedimentary matrices, effectively modeling impedance contrasts, would be exhausting.  Without going too far into it, I believe it will be possible to focus on relative amplitude with some amount of ground truthing.  As first order, I see this tool being useful in (mostly) non-destructive monitoring of orchard development success leading up to maturity.  For me, it will be important to know if the orchard is progressing as this will inform my decision to expand or not.  Further to this, using GPR in conjunction with other tools, as you have mentioned, could be a good strategy for harvest efficiency.  I agree there may be some practical limitations to this that would have to be considered.

We are also actively putting in an orchard this fall, so we won’t get serious about renting a GPR and conducting the survey until January or later.  I’ll reach out to you when we get to that point.  In the meantime, I’m always up for nerdin’ out…feel free to send me a direct message.

[Fabrice CaporalKeymaster]

Hello, where are you located? If you are in California, we could conduct experiments in our orchard…

[Brian BrookshireParticipant]

Hello Fabrice.  Our farm is in north Mississippi.  It would be great to conduct some experiments in your orchard, but it may not be feasible early on.  I do have some limited experience with GPR equipment as I was once part of a sister company to GSSI, who make GPR systems.  We used to share a space at trade shows.  In any case, I will need to determine the right configuration (there are many), see what is available on the rental market, and spend some time with the equipment.  There are several key hurdles to jump including survey design, parameterization and post-processing.  Once I have sorted that out, then perhaps we could conduct a survey in your orchard.  The timeline for this will depend on how much time and money we can afford to throw at what is, at this point, an academic exercise.

[Brian TongParticipant]

It seems to me that finding mature truffles is a solved problem. Dogs work very well. Growing the darn things witth some predictability is where research time and money would have a real potential payback.

If there is a technology answer to that, maybe it’s on-site near real-time DNA analysis to enable a full orchard survey to understand the distribution and density of the desired species.

[Brian BrookshireParticipant]

Hi Brian, thanks for joining the conversation.  I understand that dogs are a great solution to finding mature truffles, and I think for most of us, that is/will be half the fun.  What I am after with the GPR angle is not finding mature truffles, but just to see if anything is changing in the subsurface that could suggest something good is happening.  Your idea about using near real-time DNA analysis distributed across the orchard sounds very interesting.  After some quick searching on the internet, it seems the test kits are cheaper than I expected, but I wonder if there are additional costs and practicality concerns.

[Brian BrookshireParticipant]

As an update… I have looked at the rental market and talked directly with GSSI.  GSSI have offered me a demo system, speced out to be ideal for truffle orchard surveillance, at a monthly rate that is, on the whole, better than the prices on the rental market.  Plus, the system would be the very latest hardware.  The main problem I see for collaboration is transporting the kit (as Fabrice has alluded to).  Shipping the system to multiple locations would likely be cost prohibitive, but I would be willing to drive to within a day or so of my location at cost.  So, that basically means anywhere in the southeast.  For Oregon and California, we would have to figure something else out.

[Barrett LoweParticipant]

Hey Brian. Love the idea. If you get something more long term, it might be very interesting to put it on a rover that can do precise weekly scans and see how things change as the season progresses. I’m in VA so still not an easy drive but would volunteer my orchard if needed. Keep us posted on things – I’m a software guy by trade and have limited experience with RF but if I can be of help, shoot me a message.

[Brian BrookshireParticipant]

Hey Barrett, thanks for joining the conversation!  From where I live on the Gulf Coast (5 hours south of my farm), it looks like the furthest point in VA is about 15 hours.  So, I think it would be doable to come up and conduct a survey in your orchard.  There is actually an open source GPR software out there if you want to play around at: https://www.gprmax.com/.  I would probably go with GSSI’s Radan 7 or their cloud based software affiliate Geolitix, but you might have fun looking into GPR Max.  Your GPR rover idea is a good one, and I suspect somebody is already doing that in other applications…it’s all about development costs ;).  I’ll definitely keep you posted, we are still weighing out the best options for when to get a system.

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