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ARS Home » Plains Area » El Reno, Oklahoma » Grazinglands Research Laboratory » Agroclimate and Natural Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328641
Title: Cosmic ray soil moisture observing systems comos in cap fields at El Reno Oklahoma

Author
item Starks, Patrick - Pat
item BAJGAIN, RAJEN - University Of Oklahoma
item Steiner, Jean
item XIAN, XIANGMING - University Of Oklahoma

Submitted to: Grazinglands Research Laboratory Miscellaneous Publication
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2016
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Abstract only.

Technical Abstract: Soil water content (SWC) partitions rainfall into runoff and infiltration, modulates surface and atmospheric exchanges of water and energy, affects plant growth and crop yields, and impacts chemical and biological activities of soil, among other things. Thus, SWC, especially over large scales, is an important variable needed by hydrological, meteorological, climatological, agricultural, and environmental scientists. However, point measurements of SWC are impractical over large scales and methods that provide real-time, hectare-scale measurements are needed. The Comic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (COMOS) is such and system, and three of these systems were deployed within three separate fields (a native mixed warm season grass pasture, IGOS East; an Old world bluestem pasture, IGOS West; and a winter wheat field, ICOS East) at the USDA-ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory (GRL), in El Reno, OK, for evaluation of usefulness in providing field-scale measurements of SWC. Comparison of the data from the three sites showed similar wetting and drying cycles among the fields. However, the winter wheat field exhibited consistently lower SWC than the other two sites, and the variation in SWC within the wheat field was small. The two grassland sites exhibited similarity in both magnitude and variation of SWC. Once calibrated and fully vetted, the COSMOS data may be useful input to the CAP lifecycle analysis as well as input to other CAP projects.