SONAR as Land-Hole Mapping Device for

Rice-Field Rat Control

Quizon, Bianca C.
College of Engineering, Bulacan State University
Malolos, Bulacan
bncaquizon@gmail.com

Abstract - Rice is a staple food for most Filipinos across the country. The Philippines is the world’s eighth-largest
rice producer. Its arable land totals 5.4 million hectares (Ricepedia, n.d.). One of the problems of rice production are
the rats which pester fields. This paper focuses on using sonar as a mapping device to locate rat-burrow. A sonar is
placed in the field covering a radius of 0.5ha. Sonar pulses are sent into the ground, echoes come back from the layers
of soil and rock and tell the receiving device when there’s an underground hole. Hole is identified when sonar pulse
doesn’t reflect to the receiving device. Total of 3 sonars is placed in different rice-fields prone to rats, which are used
once a month. During the first month, two sonars have recorded land-holes. One sonar has shown 2 land-holes
connected leading to the burrow. The other sonar detected 3 holes; 2 of this are linked that shows the pathway to rat
burrow. After 6 months of extensive experiment, the cases of rat manifestation have reduced, with a total of 12 rat
burrows mapped. For further study, the proposed project should be tested using greater number of sonar to widen the
area of experimentation.

References:
Harrington, J. (2014, March 6). NASA Radar Demonstrate Ability to Foresee Sinkholes. Retrieved from NASA:
http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/march/nasa-radar-demonstrates-ability-to-foresee-
sinkholes/#.WwQg8RkRXxM

Ricepedia. (n.d.). Ricepedia "The online authority on rice". Retrieved from www.ricepedia.org