Data From: Electrical Geophysical Monitoring Of Subsurface Solute Transport In Low-relief Agricultural Landscapes In Response To A Simulated Major Rainfall Event

This dataset derives from an intensive field experiment that involved the use of time-lapse electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to track the fate and transport of an injected salt tracer (KBr) in shallow groundwater during a simulated rainfall event (150 mm in 12 hours) in a ditch-drained field. The study was led by a team of researchers from Rutgers University, USDA-ARS, University of Delaware, Morehead State University, and Landcare Research. The research team conducted the experiment in a 1.5-ha agricultural field located on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Research and Teaching Farm in Princess Anne, MD. The experiment lasted four days (06/20/2022 to 06/23/2022) and focused on a 150-m2 plot that was situated in the southwestern corner of the field near an open drainage ditch. Resources in this dataset include the following:

• 1D Vertical Electrical Sound – vertical electrical resistivity tomography surveys; data were collected during the simulated rainfall event.
• 3D Time domain induced polarization survey - time domain complex conductivity (TDIP) survey using the 96 Syscal Pro/Switch (Iris Instruments, France); data were collected as background data prior to the simulated rainfall event.
• 3D Timelapse electrical resistivity imaging - electrical conductivity surveys using a radial array configuration with a total radial spread of ∼24 degrees; data were collected during and after the simulated rainfall event.
• Ground penetrating radar - ground penetrating radar was collected for Robinson et. al. 2020 and for Thompson et al. 2025; data were collected as background data prior to the simulated rainfall event.
• Hydrologic data - water levels in shallow wells measured by HOBO pressure transducers and time domain reflectometry (TDR) measurement of volumetric soil moisture content; data were collected during and after the simulated rainfall event.
• Soil data - soils data (texture) and geophysical measurements of soil cores for characterization of field site; data were collected as background data prior to the simulated rainfall event
• Tracer data – concentrations of Br- measured in ten multilevel groundwater samplers; data were collected after the simulated rainfall event

For more information about this dataset contact: Josh Thompson (jht51@scarletmail.rutgers.edu); Anthony Buda (anthony.buda@usda.gov); Amy Shober (ashober@udel.edu). Also see publications by Thompson et al. (2025) and Robinson et al. (2019) for detailed methodology.
Organization: Department of Agriculture
Organization URL: https://catalog.data.gov/organization/usda
Last updated: 2026-01-26
Tags: drainage, electrical resistivity imaging, hydrogeophysics, subsurface nutrient transport