The use of RFID in soil‐erosion research

In this paper, we examine the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for studying soil erosion. Surrogate soil particles were created by coating RFID tags with silicone clay and bronze powder to give them an overall density similar to that of quartz particles. The particles were between 2.5 mm and 4.0 mm in diameter and had specific weights of 2.5 to 3.0. These tagged particles were deployed on two plots: first, in a proof‐of‐concept laboratory study and secondly in a field study, the latter involving repeated surveys after rainfall events. Seven surveys under natural rainfall over four months yielded recovery rates averaged 56%. RFIDs are shown to provide useful insights into the movement of individual soil particles during erosion processes. As RFID technology advances, further miniaturization is likely to occur enabling the movement of a greater range of soil particles to be studied, and we may anticipate improvements to the signal detection so that recovery does not rely wholly on visual identification. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.