Eighth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Using Soil-Moisture Active Passive Satellite Data to Evaluate the Performance of Transportation Infrastructure Foundations—A Feasibility Study
Publication: Geo-Congress 2019: Geotechnical Materials, Modeling, and Testing (GSP 310)
ABSTRACT
NASA’s soil moisture active passive (SMAP) satellite measures the near-surface soil moisture (0–5 cm depth) everywhere on Earth’s surface. It produces global soil moisture maps [in m3/m3] at the 9 km spatial and 24-hour temporal resolution. SMAP launched in January 2015 and has been collecting observations for a three-year period (2015–2018), with a 2–3 day temporal resolution. SMAP’s global soil moisture maps can be used to improve weather forecasts, increase our understanding of the water and carbon cycle, monitor droughts, and predict timing and location of floods. The radar observations could be superimposed on a map of transportation infrastructures to evaluate their performance under excessive water intrusion. This study included a analysis to evaluate the moisture-induced performance of transportation infrastructure foundations and pavement layers. The SMAP data were extracted within the study area before and during a major weather event. Other remote sensing products that monitor precipitation and groundwater changes were also employed to determine the level of infrastructure inundation. The results of this evaluation process suggest the feasibility of using SMAP data to investigate the performance of transportation infrastructure foundation layers under inundated conditions.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study was partially funded by NASA Data Intensive Research and Education Center for STEM (DIRECT-STEM). The contents of this report solely reflect the views of the authors.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2019: Geotechnical Materials, Modeling, and Testing (GSP 310)
Pages: 278 - 286
Editors: Christopher L. Meehan, Ph.D., University of Delaware, Sanjeev Kumar, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Miguel A. Pando, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Charlotte, and Joseph T. Coe, Ph.D., Temple University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8212-4
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Mar 21, 2019
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Aerospace engineering
- Engineering fundamentals
- Feasibility studies
- Foundations
- Geomatics
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Infrastructure
- Mapping
- Methodology (by type)
- Research methods (by type)
- Satellites
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soil water
- Space exploration
- Surveying methods
- Transportation engineering
- Transportation management
- Transportation studies
- Water and water resources
- Water management
- Water shortage
- Water supply
Authors
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