Caltech’s seismic tech tracks underground water using traffic noise
Researchers at Caltech have developed an innovative technique to gauge soil moisture in the vadose zone, the shallow region between the surface and underground aquifers where plants and crops access water through their roots. This method employs seismic technology, typically used to measure ground shaking during earthquakes, but it can also detect vibrations from human activities such as traffic. As these vibrations travel through the ground, their speed is reduced by the presence of water; the more moisture, the slower the vibrations move. The new study leverages seismic vibrations from everyday traffic to measure the water content in the vadose zone.