IAEA CRNS calibration and technical training (Honduras)

CRNS is a technology used to measure soil moisture at field scale. It works by detecting neutrons generated by cosmic rays that interact with hydrogen atoms near the land surface. Because hydrogen in soils is mainly found in water, the neutron count can be used to estimate soil moisture over a relatively large area (up to several hectares), without installing many probes in the ground.

The installation of CRNS soil moisture monitoring station strengthened national capacity for real-time, field-scale soil moisture assessment. The system provides non-invasive, continuous data to support climate-smart agriculture and Sustainable Soil Management (SSM), while technical training ensured national experts can operate, calibrate and interpret the data independently.