Thermal Neutron Counts for Orchard Phenology Monitoring in Southeastern France, 2022

Samer K. Al-Mashharawi's dataset explores the use of Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) thermal neutron counts to track orchard development. It contains 10 months of continuous CRNS observations from a cherry orchard in southeastern France in 2022, correlated with UAV LiDAR-derived Plant Area Index and satellite vegetation indices. The results show a strong correlation (R² = 0.86) between thermal neutron intensity and canopy structure.

Use Cases

• Modeling plant canopy development based on thermal neutron intensity variations.
• Comparing ground-based neutron sensor data with UAV LiDAR-derived Plant Area Index (PAI) estimates.
• Evaluating satellite vegetation indices (e.g., NDRE from PlanetScope) for correlation with in-situ neutron measurements.
• Investigating the relationship between soil moisture and neutron counts for improved irrigation management.

Strengths

• Data is based on 10 months of continuous sensor operation in 2022.
• Correlation between thermal neutron intensity and UAV-derived PAI is quantified with a high R² value of 0.86.
• Includes comparisons with multiple data sources: UAV LiDAR, PlanetScope, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is a 9.6 MB PDF, suggesting the primary data may be embedded in a document format rather than a raw, machine-readable table.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Samer K. Al-Mashharawi.

Collection Method

Continuous monitoring via a Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) installed in a cherry orchard, with data correlated against UAV LiDAR and satellite imagery.

Time Range

10 months in 2022.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 07:44:05; freshness should be verified.

Geography

A cherry orchard site in southeastern France.