Upscaling Soil Moisture Data with Dr. Tyson Ochsner

10/18/24 • 44 min

“Upscaling soil moisture from point scale to field scale: towards a general model” with Dr. Tyson Ochsner

Field scale soil moisture measurements can be difficult to attain. Point scale data can be too small to give field scale advice, and data gathered from satellites often lack important specificity. In this episode, Tyson joins me to discuss a new method to upscale point data into field scale soil moisture estimates.

Tune in to learn:

· Why field-scale measurements are important for both grower and researcher needs, yet are difficult to obtain

· What are the differences between fast, thermal, and epithermal neutrons

· How measuring epithermal neutrons can correlate with soil moisture

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20244

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don’t forget to subscribe. If you’d like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Tyson, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Jasia Jannat from our Student Spotlight, you can find her here: [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasia-jannat-06124a124/

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b3FFBDD50-9C8C-EF11-AC20-0022480C3B17%7d

Transcripts: Coming soon

OK State Soil Moisture Map: http://soilmoisture.okstate.edu/

Rain or Shine book: https://open.library.okstate.edu/rainorshine/

OK State University Soil Physics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@okstate_soil_physics

CoCoRahs Citizen Science project: https://www.cocorahs.org/

EA Consumables is the exclusive US distributor of organic elemental analysis products by UK laboratory supplies manufacturer, Elemental Microanalysis. Visit the EA Consumables website for high quality elemental analysis consumable supplies that offer performance you can trust.

Thank you to our volunteer Om Prakash Ghimire for regular help with the shownotes and other assets. Thank you to Cole Shalk from 12twelve Media for the Audio Processing on today's episode.

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

“Upscaling soil moisture from point scale to field scale: towards a general model” with Dr. Tyson Ochsner

Tune in to learn:

· Why field-scale measurements are important for both grower and researcher needs, yet are difficult to obtain

· What are the differences between fast, thermal, and epithermal neutrons

· How measuring epithermal neutrons can correlate with soil moisture

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20244

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to reach out to Tyson, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Jasia Jannat from our Student Spotlight, you can find her here: [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasia-jannat-06124a124/

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b3FFBDD50-9C8C-EF11-AC20-0022480C3B17%7d

Transcripts: Coming soon

OK State Soil Moisture Map: http://soilmoisture.okstate.edu/

Rain or Shine book: https://open.library.okstate.edu/rainorshine/

OK State University Soil Physics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@okstate_soil_physics

CoCoRahs Citizen Science project: https://www.cocorahs.org/

Thank you to our volunteer Om Prakash Ghimire for regular help with the shownotes and other assets. Thank you to Cole Shalk from 12twelve Media for the Audio Processing on today's episode.

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Previous Episode

Phenotyping Crop Variety Mixtures with Flavian Tschurr and Corina Oppliger

“Mixing things up! Identifying early diversity benefits and facilitating the development of improved variety mixtures with high throughput field phenotyping” with Flavian Tschurr and Corina Oppliger.

With increasing yield instability in monocropping systems due to diseases, pests or climatic factors, crop diversification is a potential strategy to improve crop performance and yield stability. However, crop diversification can present challenges in agronomic management and operations. One promising approach to crop diversification is using multiple varieties of one crop rather than multiple species. However, challenges remain in selecting suitable crop varieties and determining their optimum mixture rates. In this episode, graduate students Flavian Tschurr and Corina Oppliger share their insights on using image-based high-throughput phenotyping to optimize crop variety mixtures.

Tune in to learn:

· What is a crop variety mixture?

· What are the benefits of crop variety mixture?

· What is the use of high throughput phenotyping in crop improvement?

· What is crop over-yielding?

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ppj2.20090

This paper is always freely available.

If you would like to reach out to Flavian Tschurr, you can find him here: [email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Corina Oppliger, you can find her here: c[email protected]

If you would like to reach out to Fiona Todd from our Student Spotlight, you can find her here: [email protected]

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7bDDE42A24-8B81-EF11-AC21-000D3A3B1B33%7d

Transcripts: Coming soon

ETH Zurich, Institute for Agricultural Sciences: https://kp.ethz.ch/

ETH Zurich Mastadon: https://scicomm.xyz/@crop_science_eth

ETH Zurich Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crop.science.eth/

Field phenotyping platform- https://kp.ethz.ch/infrastructure/FIP.html

Research paper on crop variety mixture - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01497-x

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Next Episode

Managing Sorghum Aphid with Drs. Somashekhar Punnuri, Karen Harris-Shultz, Joseph Knoll, and Xinzhi Ni

“Invasive sorghum aphid: A decade of research on deciphering plant resistance mechanisms and novel approaches in breeding for sorghum resistance to aphids” with Drs. Somashekhar Punnuri, Karen Harris-Shultz, Joseph Knoll, and Xinzhi Ni.

Sorghum is an important crop in the United States, grown for grain, forage and bioenergy purposes. However, its production is facing several challenges due to abiotic and biotic factors, with aphids emerging as a significant pest in last decade. Once considered a minor pest, sorghum aphids have become a major threat to sorghum cultivation due to susceptible varieties and insufficient pest management strategies. In this episode, Dr. Somashekhar Punnuri, an associate professor from Fort Valley State University; Drs. Karen Harris-Shultz and Joesph Knoll, research geneticists with USDA ARS; and Dr. Xinzhi Ni, a research entomologist from USDA ARS, share their insights on current research efforts and new methods to combat sorghum aphids.

Tune in to learn more about:

· What characteristics sorghum aphids have

· How sorghum aphids reproduce

· What resistance mechanisms sorghum has

· What the current efforts are in breeding aphid resistant sorghum varieties

· What the challenges are in aphid management in sorghum

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.21301

This paper is always freely available.

Contact us at [email protected] or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this, don’t forget to subscribe. If you’d like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/.

If you would like to reach out to Som, you can contact him here: [email protected] https://ag.fvsu.edu/members/profile/view/63

If you would like to reach out to Karen, you can contact her here: [email protected] https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person?person-id=43959

If you would like to reach out to Joe, you can contact him here: [email protected]https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person?person-id=48564

If you would like to reach out to Xinzhi, you can contact him here: [email protected] https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person?person-id=35259

If you would like to reach out to Sarah Chu from our Student Spotlight, you can find her here: [email protected] X: https://x.com/weedysarahchu

Resources

CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7bDF51FF70-9397-EF11-8A6A-000D3A350361%7d

Transcripts: Coming soon

Sorghum Checkoff: https://www.sorghumcheckoff.com/our-farmers/insects-weeds-diseases/insect-control/sugarcane-aphid/

“Biological and genetic features of introduced aphid populations in agroecosystems” published in Current Opinion in Insect Science: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2018.01.004

Sorghum aphid reporting tool: https://www.myfields.info/

Thank you to our volunteer Om Prakash Ghimire for regular help with the shownotes and other assets. Thank you to Cole Shalk from 12twelve Media for the Audio Processing on today's episode.

Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.