MAPPING SPATIAL MOISTURE CONTENT OF UNSATURATED AGRICULTURAL SOILS WITH GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

Soil subsurface moisture content, especially in the root zone, is important for evaluation the influence of soil moisture to agricultural crops. Conservative monitoring by point-measurement methods is time-consuming and expensive. In this paper we represent an active remote-sensing tool for subsurface spatial imaging and analysis of electromagnetic physical properties, mostly water content, by ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflection. Combined with laboratory methods, this technique enables real-time and highly accurate evaluations of soils' physical qualities in the field. To calculate subsurface moisture content, a model based on the soil texture, porosity, saturation, organic matter and effective electrical conductivity is required. We developed an innovative method that make it possible measures spatial subsurface moisture content up to a depth of 1.5 m in agricultural soils and applied it to two different unsaturated soil types from agricultural fields in Israel: loess soil type (Calcic haploxeralf), common in rural areas of southern Israel with about 30% clay, 30% silt and 40% sand, and hamra soil type (Typic rhodoxeralf), common in rural areas of central Israel with about 10% clay, 5% silt and 85% sand. Combined field and laboratory measurements and model development gave efficient determinations of spatial moisture content in these fields. The environmentally friendly GPR system enabled non-destructive testing. The developed method for measuring moisture content in the laboratory enabled highly accurate interpretation and physical computing. Spatial soil moisture content to 1.5 m depth was determined with 1–5% accuracy, making our method useful for the design of irrigation plans for different interfaces

Evolution of C–H Bond Functionalization from Methane to Methodology

This Perspective presents the fundamental principles, the elementary reactions, the initial catalytic systems, and the contemporary catalysts that have converted C−H bond functionalization from a curiosity to a reality for synthetic chemists. Many classes of elementary reactions involving transition-metal complexes cleave C−H bonds at typically unreactive positions. These reactions, coupled with a separate or simultaneous functionalization process lead to products containing new C−C, C−N, and C−O bonds. Such reactions were initially studied for the conversion of light alkanes to liquid products, but they have been used (and commercialized in some cases) most often for the synthesis of the more complex structures of natural products, medicinally active compounds, and aromatic materials. Such a change in direction of research in C−H bond functionalization is remarkable because the reactions must occur at an unactivated C−H bond over functional groups that are more reactive than the C−H bond toward classical reagents. The scope of reactions that form C−C bonds or install functionality at an unactivated C−H bond will be presented, and the potential future utility of these reactions will be discussed