Cosmic-ray neutron probes used for simultaneous soil moisture and biomass estimation

Understanding the feedback mechanisms between soil moisture and biomass production is important for sustainable resources management. Here, we present a new method enabling simultaneous non-invasive measurements of SWC and biomass dynamics based on cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS). In the last decade CRNS developed to an established method for field scale soil moisture estimation. Its non-invasive nature and footprint size rely on the measurement of secondary cosmic ray neutrons. In the fast neutron energy range (1eV – 100 keV), neutrons are inversely correlated with soil moisture. In the thermal neutron energy range (