Soil Moisture and Soil Temperature Observations and Applications: A Joint U.S. Climate Reference

Network (USCRN) – National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Workshop, Oak Ridge,

TN, March 3-5, 2009

Bruce Baker NOAA/NCDC

SOIL MOISTURE …• Is of the utmost importance

with other issues such as radiation, clouds …

• Because of its role inevaporationradiative and heat fluxesvegetation … albedo, moisture fluxsustaining life…

• And because it has been hard to address …

There are many challenges to be overcome in relation to soil moisture…

In-situ Soil Moisture and Temperature Sensorsfor USCRN FY09-10

• Provide status of soil sensors deployment at USCRN stations

• Provide overview of soil sensors network across U.S.

• Identify potential uses of in-situ soil sensors

• Explore potential opportunities to integrate with similar satellite measurements, other remote sensing techniques, NIDIS, International community

U. S. Climate Reference Network Station U. S. Climate Reference Network Station National-LevelNational-Level Climate Monitoring Climate Monitoring

( (Cornell University, Ithaca, New York)Cornell University, Ithaca, New York)

Datalogger

Anemometer

Ground (IR) TemperatureWetness Sensor

Power Control

Three High-Precision Platinum Resistance Thermometers in Individual Ventilated Radiation Housings

Solar Radiation (Pyranometer)

Geonor 3-wire weighing precipitation gauge with backup gauge inside small DFIR fence and single alter.

GOES DCS Satellite

Soil Moisture & Soil Temperature (in test)

Relative Humidity in Ventilated Radiation Housing

Geonor 3-wire all weather weighingprecipitation gauge inside small DFIR fence and single alter.

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN)All 114 Stations Installed/Operational End of FY 08

Installed 7 Pairs (14)Installed Single (92)Awaiting Installation (8)

Updated April 1, 2008

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) Alaska Locations

GCOS single sites installed (2): Sitka & St. Paul Island

Single sites installed (2): Pt. Barrow & FairbanksSingle sites to be installed: FY 10-14 (27 locations)

Single sites installed at end FY 05 (2): Mauna Loa Summit, and Waiakea

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) Hawaiian Locations

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors

U.S. Observing Networks known to have Soil Sensors• U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/scan/http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/scan/SCAN-brochure.pdf

• National network of remotely located stations collect atmospheric measurements along with soil moisture and soil temperature.

• Total of five (5) sensors, one placed at 5,10,20,50, and 100 cm depths.

• All stations have full soil survey characterization information.

• Developed to provide near real-time soil-climate information for natural resource planning, drought assessment, and water resource management.

• Currently the network has 111 stations located in 39 states. Most stations have been installed since 1999, following the completion of a 10-year soil moisture/soil temperature pilot project.

• Meteor burst communications technology provides data in near real-time.

• Hourly data quickly made available to the public via the Internet.

USDA Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

U.S. Observing Networks known to have Soil Sensors• NOAA/NWS Cooperative (Volunteer) Observing Network (COOP)• Of the present ~8,000 U.S. COOP stations, there are only 263 (262 reporting) COOP stations that measure and report soil temperature (only). • Observations are archived as part of the COOP database at the NCDC. Data is reported daily to weekly to monthly.

• As a quality-controlled product it is not usually available for most uses until 4-6 months after the observations have been taken.

• The utility of this data as a stand-alone dataset for operational use is limited by its timeliness, spatial paucity, and the lack of the even more critical soil moisture measurement.

NOAA Cooperative Observer Network Soil Temperature Stations

Soil Sensors Map

USDA SCAN, NWS COOP, and NESDIS USCRN

(Deploy USCRN FY 08-12, 114 sites @ 107 locations)

CRN (Moisture & Temp ~114 FY 08-12)SCAN (Moisture & Temp ~111)Coop (Temp only ~263)

Additional 24 coop

(06/16/06)

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) Alaska Locations

GCOS single sites installed (2): Sitka & St. Paul Island

Single sites installed (2): Pt. Barrow & FairbanksSingle sites to be installed: FY 10-14 (27 locations)

12/12/07Red boxes indicatesUSDA desire for collocating soil sensorsat USCRN stations.

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) Alaska Locations

GCOS single sites installed (2): Sitka & St. Paul Island

Single sites installed (2): Pt. Barrow & FairbanksSingle sites to be installed: FY 10-14 (27 locations)

?

Red box indicates (2/25/08)

Permafrost Temperature Network desire for

collocating permafrost temperature sensors

at USCRN stations

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to 114 USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)U.S. Observing Networks known to have Soil Sensors

• NOAA/OAR: Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) http://www.gewex.org/

• U.S. contribution to GEWEX - ten (10) continental U.S. sites reflect the range of ecosystems used for understanding climate forcing and the impact on the surface energy balance. • Ground-based measurements of surface energy balance including sensible & latent heat flux, ground heat flux, and net radiation (radiation measurements are not to BSRN standards), turbulent fluxes of momentum and carbon dioxide. • Supporting observations: air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed & direction, surface wetness, soil temperatures (7 levels), soil moisture (5 levels) and precipitation. •Data processed on a daily basis and disseminated to users and clients via FTP. • Calibration standards for radiation and temperature – same as USCRN.• Additional capabilities: model development, especially those linked with satellite data for determining the status of the land surface.

Installation at Fort Peck, MTAugust 31, 2006

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

With Replicates

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

USCRN - 144 Stations across Lower 48 stateshttp://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/uscrn/

• The sensor (Hydra) is the same used in USDA/SCAN (Soil Climate and Analysis Network)

• Meets established requirements for measurement of soil moisture and soil temperature

• Peer reviewed publications support operation of the sensor

Hydra Probe by Stevens Waterhttp://stevenswater.com

• Hydra Probe technology has been in use for 10 years in support of NASA for ground truthing of satellite data

• The Hydra II sensor digital output easily interfaces to dataloggers used in USCRN (some are currently deployed in GEWEX)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)This configuration optimizes the ability to characterize and quantify \

variability..• USCRN proposed vertical configuration (number and placement) of soil moisture/soil temperature sensors (same as GEWEX) includes:

3 sensors at 5cm3 sensors at 10cm3 sensors at 20 cm3 sensors at 50cm3 ssensor at 100cm

• Soil moisture, like many other soil measurements are subject to an inherent natural variability that can only be assessed by replicate sampling for in-situ measurement systems (quantify uncertainty)

• Sensor redundancy helps to insure continuity of measurements for a particular depth, if a particular sensor goes bad. (potentially decrease network maintenance cost by the use of replicate measurements)

• Will this configuration improve the ability to calculate the water budget at these sites?

Yes the upper layers are the most variable and the uncertainty can be quantified with the replicate measurements.

• Will this additional information be of use to remote sensing??Yes because the observed surface variability can be incorporated into the data analyses for remote sensing calibrations.

• Will this additional information be beneficial to the modeling of this component?

Yes, definitely. There is no point refining a model beyond the degree of uncertainty in the source or calibrations data and you have some measure of data uncertainty.

 

Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensors Deployment to USCRN Stations

(NIDIS FY 08+ funded)

Soil Probe Differences dry sand

Soil Probe Differences Wet Sand

Soil Probe Differences Water

DISCUSSION- METADATA- INSTALLATION PROCEDURES- QA/QC- WHERE SHOULD WE GO FIRST? ~40 STATIONS INSTALLED FY09- TESTBEDS- INTENSIVE CAMPAIGNS- SAMPLING PROTOCOL