Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #189543
Title: A STRATEGY FOR A GLOBAL IN-SITU SOIL MOISTURE NETWORK

Author
item VAN OEVELEN, P - EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
item Jackson, Thomas
item ENTEKHABI, DARA - MIT
item KERR, Y - SECBIO

Submitted to: American Geophysical Union
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/16/2005
Publication Date: 12/18/2005
Citation: Van Oevelen, P., Jackson, T.J., Entekhabi, D., Kerr, Y. 2005. A strategy for a global in-situ soil moisture network [abstract]. Eos Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 86(52), Fall Meeting Supplements, Abstract H11B-1261.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Soil moisture is more and more recognized by the international scientific community as a key variable in the description of hydrospheric processes (IGOS-P IGWCO 2004) and is recognized by the GCOS community as an emerging essential climatic variable (ECV) (GCOS, 2004). The need for a monitoring system in the terrestrial domain to measure soil moisture is therefore of increasing importance. The monitoring from space borne systems will enable global coverage but to be of real value these data need to be validated properly over large domains and longer time spans. Currently no global network exists of in-situ soil moisture measurements and soil moisture is only routinely measured in certain basins and areas in the world. The most complete collection of in situ soil moisture measurements, mostly gravimetric, is in the Global Soil Moisture Data bank (GSMDB) and data from this database are frequently used for model validation purposes. The GSMDB data are retrospective in nature and new data come available with a time lag. Hence, these data are less useful for validation purposes of new earth observation data. To establish a valuable global network the measurements needs to be congruent of nature to avoid cross calibration and data interpretation issues. Establishing and maintaining such a network needs considerable funding. Organizations that work in the area of hydrology and hydrometeorological measurements need to be aware of the importance and value of such measurements. Within this presentation an overview will be given of the rationale of the global in-situ measurement network, the envisaged measurement protocol and the funding opportunities and possibilities.