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https://doi.org/10.56556/gssr.v1i1.301 
                                                                  

 

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An Insight Into the Importance of Application of Geophysical Methods In 
Agriculture For National Economic Development 

Ahmad Alhassan1*, Auwal Aliyu2, Abubakar Magaji3, M. Nuruddeen Abdulkareem4, Mohammed 

Abdullahi5 

1Department of Physics, Faculty of science, Federal University of Kashere, Gombe state, Nigeria 

2Department of Physics, Faculty of science, Federal University Gashua, Yobe state, Nigeria 

3Department of Animal science, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University of Kashere, Gombe state, Nigeria 

4Department of Physical Science Laboratory Technology, Federal Polytechnic Auchi, Edo state, Nigeria 

 

Corresponding author: Ahmad Alhassan, Ibnalhassan2010@gmail.com 

Received: 01 July, 2022, Accepted: 10 August, 2022, Published: 12 August, 2022 

 

Abstract 

One of the keys to national development in developing countries like Nigeria is the diversification of economy. 

Nigeria’s economy depends majorly on crude oil. The oil sector continue to face challenges like price drop in 

international market, corruption, reduced quantity of production as forecasted (although new oils are been drilled). 

These among others makes it necessary for the country to diversify its economy. Agriculture is one of the areas 

Nigeria have started investing into. New methods are necessary for fast improvement in the sector among which is 

geophysics. The need for Agricultural Geophysics to be considered for national economic development is discussed. 

Geophysics as a branch of science that deal with physical processes and phenomena occurring in the earth and its 

vicinity is applicable to many fields that contribute to the development of the economy of any nation. Such fields 

include oil, Agriculture, natural resources among others. Geophysical methods applicable in Agriculture like 

resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and Ground penetrating radar are discussed with their applications in 

agriculture. The various geophysical methods that are useful in agriculture are reviewed and necessity of their 

application is also emphasized.  

Keywords: Geophysics; Agriculture; Economy; Development 

 

Introduction 

 

Many factors are responsible for decrease in production 

of Agricultural products. These include water erosion, 

poor soil biology, decreased yield reduced plant growth, 

reduced sustainability and soil degradation among others 

(Newell and Ken, 2014). An effort to address the 

aforementioned problems will have positive influence on 

all matter and living organisms on earth including soils 

and plants which are the main interest for agriculturists. 

Soil properties are of high importance in many human 

activities, such as agriculture, forestry, landscaping, 

environmental protection, recreation, and civil 

engineering.  

Soil survey for different applications requires quick and 

non-disturbing estimations of numerous soil properties, 

such as salinity, texture, stone content, groundwater  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

depth, and horizon sequences in soil profiles. A perfect 

assessment of properties of soil is convoluted due to 

their variability. Measurements of soil with a high 

sampling density is expensive and consumes time 

because conventional methods of analysing soil for 

precision agricultural mapping requires mostly 

disturbing the soil through removal of soil samples and 

subjecting them to laboratory analysis. This implies that, 

through the aforementioned practice, the sampling costs 

would exceed the potential benefits. Geophysical 

methods, conversely, tolerate quick measurement of soil 

properties, such as electrical conductivity, resistivity, 

and potential, from surface of soil straight to any depth 

without disturbing the soil. Precision Agriculture is the 

modern practice that allows farmer to make 

measurements so that he will know the exact deficiency 

of his land and plants. 

 

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Literature review 

Little practice of Geophysical methods is done in Nigeria 

for Agricultural practice specially to observe soil 

fertility. Some of the available researches include 

Oladunjoye that used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) 

to characterize valley bottom soil at ilora (Oladunjoye et 

al., 2021), Yusuf that employed geophysical and 

geochemical aproaches to investigate ground water 

quality and soil cultivation viability in mokwa (Yusuf et 

al., 2018) among others. Leti described Agro 

geophysical methods to identify soil pipes (Leti et al., 

2021). We still need to know more about the field and its 

impact in agriculture. This paper simply focused on 

describing the commonest geophysical methods applied 

in Agriculture. The choice of method depends on one’s 

interest. Perhaps, some researchers may decide to use 

multiple methods, interestingly, using multiple methods 

will add more certainty and efficiency to the result 

(Alhassan et al., 2021). 

Electrical Geophysical Method 

Electrical resistivity is a geophysical method that uses 

the electrical properties of soil to infer about the 

temperature, water content and salt content of the soil. 

Such properties include resistivity and conductivity. 

There is a relationship between electrical conductivity 

measured with four-electrode probe and conductivity of 

soil solution  (Nadler, 1982). These are given in 

equations 1 & 2. 

By ohm’s law,        ER = K
∆U

1
                          (1) 

  

U=elecrical potential  

 EC =
1

ER
  (2) 

The method of four-electrode probe was also used for 

the calculation of further soil properties such as soil 

water content, soil structure, bulk density, porosity, and 

texture, stone content, etc. (Larisa et al., 2007; Oladimeji 

et al., 2014; Yusuf et al., 2018; Kayode et al., 2022). 

In conditions where one or two soil properties have 

influence on measured electrical properties, electrical 

conductivity (EC) method can be used to estimate such 

properties. The resistivity of rocks is much higher (about 

104 -1012 ohm m) than that of soil horizons with any 

texture. Therefore, high ER will designate the presence 

of stones in soil profiles irrespective of soil type and 

geographical region. Vertical electrical sounding (VES) 

method can be used in studying several processes for 

instance melting, freezing, wetting-drying and solution 

transport in soils (Yusuf et al., 2018). The mobility of 

electrical charges can increase significantly when the 

topsoil materials have higher water holding capacity, 

such as clay and silt, and especially water logging 

conditions which can also cause significant decrease in 

ER. This implies that complex soil properties influencing  

 

plant growth, plant health and yield can be identified and 

mapped with electrical geophysical methods. (Yusuf et 

al., 2018). The electrical geophysical methods when 

Compared with conventional methods of soil analysis 

allows the evaluation of groundwater table, salt and 

stone content, depth and thickness of soil horizons, 

polluted/disturbed layers in soil profiles, and content 

with an estimation error (Kayode et al., 2022). 

Soil properties influencing Density of mobile electrical 

charges in summary are: 

• Chemical properties (Salt content, humus 

content etc) stones and oil are intrusions of high 

resistivity. 

• Physical properties (bulk density, water content, 

temperature, texture, water movement based on 

soil compaction or mixing) 

Applications of ER/EC in Agric 

Changes in one soil property can be monitored (drying-

wetting, freezing-melting, solution transport) 

Mapping of the soil properties which highly influence 

electrical parameters (salinity, stone content, hardpan, oil 

pollution, ground water table) 

Evaluate complex effect of many soil properties on 

measured electrical parameter, develop management 

zones or study soil cover structure. (Richard and 

Dualem, 2014) 

Electrical resistivity is Fast, Portable, Versatile, 

Affordable and In depth. 

Ground Penetrating Radar 

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) uses seimic method 

and serves as a quality control tool to determine the 

presence, depth and lateral extent of diagnostic 

subsurface horizons, Improve interpretations by 

providing estimates of different soil types composing a 

soil map unit and Characterize spatial and temporal 

variations in soil properties (Doolite, 2014). 

GPR generates a sequence of trigger pulses which are 

sent via a control cable through the antenna. Each  cable 

transmits into a bipolar transmit pulse. The transmitted 

pulses are the directed into the soil by the antenna which 

is fold below the surface. The energy is radiated in a 

pattern roughly 90° front to back and 60° side to side. It 

passes different materials with different properties. The 

dielectric constant changes when change in Electrical 

conductivity of soil is experienced. Some of the pulse 

bounces back to the antenna. The received signals are 

then sent back to the receiver where they are processed. 

The data are displayed on a coloured map and can be 

stored on internal hard drive for later play back. 

GPR results depend mainly on two electrical properties 

of soil namely electrical conductivity and relative 

dielectric permittivity or dielectric constant. Electrical 

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conductivity (EC) is the ability of a material to conduct 

an electric current. It controls the signal penetration. EC 

increases with increasing water, clay and size of soil 

contents (Doolite, 2014). On the other hand, Dielectric 

constant is the measure of the capacity of a material to 

store charge when an electric field is applied to it. It 

controls the strength of the signal reflection. Different 

subsurface materials have different dielectric constant.  

Three general soil/landscape factors affect water and 

crop growth : 

• Available water storage (soil texture, organic 

matter) 

• Rate of water infiltration and recharge (Soil 

surface porosity, layers of impermeability, 

slope) 

• Water redistribution within the field (relative 

elevation, curvature, slope) Newell kitchen.     

(Barry et al., 2010) 

Electro Magnetic Method 

Electro Magnetic (E-M) wave creates sinusoidal E-M 

field that induces E-M current. E-M reaches 1km depth 

and exhibits both time domain and frequency domain 

techniques. (Richard and Dualem, 2014). 

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) possess the potential in 

assisting agricultural applications (Binley et al.,2015). 

The method has the ability to provide a suitable 

alternative by measuring apparent electrical conductivity 

of soil which can be used to estimate soil properties such 

as water content, textural properties, mineralization, 

porosity, and residual pore water content (Brogi et al., 

2021). 

 

Remote Sensinsing Method 

Remote sensing acquires information about an object 

without making physical contact with that object. 

Remote sensing gives the soil moisture data and helps in 

determining the quantity of moisture in the soil and 

hence the type of crop that can be grown in the soil. 

Remote sensing technology plays an important role 

in the analysis of crop health which determines the 

overall crop yield. When all of this data is 

combined it gives almost accurate estimates of the 

crop yield.  Because of the predictive nature of the 

remote sensing technology, farmers can now use 

remote sensing to observe a variety of factors 

including the weather patterns and the soil types to 

predict the planting and harvesting seasons of each 

crop. Remote sensing has also played an important 

role in crop identification especially in cases where 

the crop under observation is mysterious or shows 

some mysterious characteristics (Grindgis, 2018). 

Conclusion 

Characterizing soil spatial variability at immediate 

(field) scale is a major challenge in soil investigation. 

This paper brought on board the advantage of 

geophysical methods over other methods in precision 

Agriculture. Electrical Method, Ground Penetrating 

Radar and Electro Magnetic methods are discussed as 

the most commonly used Geophysical methods in 

Agriculture. This allows the observation and 

recommendation of using the methods more than it has 

been  applied in the farm especially in Nigeria. 

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