Survey of methods for soil moisture determination

Schmugge, Thomas J.; Jackson, Thomas J.; Mckim, H. L.

doi:10.1029/wr016i006p00961

Cited by 369 publications

(155 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…Best soil moisture/wetness information is achievable with microwave radiometer acquiring data at L band (Schmugge et al, 1980;Jackson and Schmugge 1989;Entekhabi et al, 1994;Galantowicz et al, 1999;Njoku and Li, 1999.). At these frequencies, in fact, vegetation is almost transparent; the roughness effects are negligible and the soil water information is more reliable since it comes out from deeper soils (Schmugge, 1998).…”

Section: The Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (Amsu)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring soil wetness variations by means of satellite passive microwave observations: the HYDROPTIMET study cases

Lacava

Greco

Leo

et al. 2005

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Soil moisture is an important component of the hydrological cycle. In the framework of modern flood warning systems, the knowledge of soil moisture is crucial, due to the influence on the soil response in terms of infiltrationrunoff. Precipitation-runoff processes, in fact, are related to catchment's hydrological conditions before the precipitation. Thus, an estimation of these conditions is of significant importance to improve the reliability of flood warning systems. Combining such information with other weatherrelated satellite products (i.e. rain rate estimation) might represent a useful exercise in order to improve our capability to handle (and possibly mitigate or prevent) hydro-geological hazards.Remote sensing, in the last few years, has supported several techniques for soil moisture/wetness monitoring. Most of the satellite-based techniques use microwave data, thanks to the all-weather and all-time capability of these data, as well as to their high sensitivity to water content in the soil. On the other hand, microwave data are unfortunately highly affected by the presence of surface roughness or vegetation coverage within the instantaneous satellite field of view (IFOV). Those problems, consequently, strongly limit the efficiency and the reliability of traditional satellite techniques.Recently, using data coming from AMSU (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit), flying aboard NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellites, a new methodology for soil wetness estimation has been proposed. The proposed index, called Soil Wetness Variation Index (SWVI), developed by a multi-temporal analysis of AMSU records, seems able to reduce the problems related to vegetation and/or roughness effects. Such an approach has been tested, with promising results, on the analysis of some flooding events which occurred in Europe in the past.Correspondence to: N. Pergola (pergola@imaa.cnr.it)In this study, results achieved for the HYDROPTIMET test cases will be analysed and discussed in detail. This analysis allows us to evaluate the reliability and the efficiency of the proposed technique in identifying different amounts of soil wetness variations in different observational conditions. In particular, the proposed indicator was able to document the actual effects of meteorological events, in terms of space-time evolution of soil wetness changes, for all the analysed HYDROPTIMET test cases. Moreover, in some circumstances, the SWVI was able to identify the presence of a sort of "early" signal in terms of soil wetness variations, which may be regarded as a timely indication of an anomalous value of soil water content. This evidence suggests the opportunity to use such an index in the pre-operational phases of the modern flood warning systems, in order to improve their forecast capabilities and their reliability.

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Section: The Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (Amsu)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring soil wetness variations by means of satellite passive microwave observations: the HYDROPTIMET study cases

Lacava

Greco

Leo

et al. 2005

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Understanding of the small-scale processes is important for parameterizations that allow the modeling of large-scale processes. All in all, measurements of soil moisture at spatial scales from 10 cm (e.g., interactions with vegetation) to 1 km (e.g., hill slope average behavior) can provide interesting new insights into the complex processes, at work between atmosphere and subsurface, that evade understanding when observed through point measurements and satellite based measurements, see e.g., [14,24].…”

Section: Required Accuracy Of Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, large-scale satellite-based remote measurement techniques do not yet provide the required resolution to resolve spatiotemporal variability present in such a complex and heterogeneous environment [10][11][12][13]. It is therefore very desirable to establish a complementary and accurate, automated, continuous or dense, non-destructive measurement technique to close the scale-gap [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Moisture & Snow Properties Determination with GNSS in Alpine Environments: Challenges, Status, and Perspectives

et al. 2013

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Moisture content in the soil and snow in the alpine environment is an important factor, not only for environmentally oriented research, but also for decision making in agriculture and hazard management. Current observation techniques quantifying soil moisture or characterizing a snow pack often require dedicated instrumentation that measures either at point scale or at very large (satellite pixel) scale. Given the heterogeneity of both snow cover and soil moisture in alpine terrain, observations of the spatial distribution of moisture and snow-cover are lacking at spatial scales relevant for alpine hydrometeorology. This paper provides an overview of the challenges and status of the determination of soil moisture and snow properties in alpine environments. Current measurement techniques and newly proposed ones, based on the reception of reflected Global Navigation Satellite Signals (i.e., GNSS Reflectometry or GNSS-R), or the use of laser scanning are reviewed, and the perspectives offered by these new techniques to fill the current gap in the instrumentation level are discussed. Some key enabling technologies OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2013, 5 3517 including the availability of modernized GNSS signals and GNSS array beamforming techniques are also considered and discussed.

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“…The daily measurement of surface soil moisture content on a large area can be tedious and difficult. One of the most promising noninvasive techniques for monitoring near surface soil moisture content over large areas is microwave remote sensing (Jackson et al 1982;Schmugge et al 1980Schmugge et al , 1996. However, as the spatial scale of a satellite footprint and temporal frequency of sensor coverage increases in future missions, the problem of validating soil moisture imagery derived from microwave sensors is compounded.…”

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confidence: 99%

Calibration and modification of impedance probe for near surface soil moisture measurements

Tsegaye

Tadesse²,

Coleman³

et al. 2004

Can. J. Soil. Sci.

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Tsegaye, T. D., Tadesse, W., Coleman, T. L., Jackson, T. J. and Tewolde, H. 2004. Calibration and modification of impedance probe for near surface soil moisture measurements. Can. J. Soil Sci. 84: 237-243. A reliable and low cost sensor that can measure soil moisture at or near the soil surface is currently not available. The objectives of this study were: (i) to evaluate the possibility of modifying an impedance probe (IP) to measure soil moisture content at a very shallow depth (2-5 cm); and (ii) to compare the soil moisture values obtained using the IP to the values obtained using the traditional gravimetric method. The research was conducted at the Winfred A. Thomas Agricultural Research Station (WTARS) Hazel Green, Alabama. The standard IP that is capable of measuring soil moisture content at 6-cm soil depth was modified to measure soil moisture at 2-, 3-, and 5-cm depths. Using a site and depth-specific calibration technique it provided results that were comparable to the values that were obtained following the traditional gravimetric water content determination protocol. We found that the instrument was very sensitive to changes in soil moisture content and has great potential as a replacement for the gravimetric technique. It allows repetitive measurements of soil moisture content at a very shallow depth with minimal soil disturbance. Furthermore, the instrument is particularly valuable for providing ground-truth soil moisture contents to validate remotely sensed data.

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Survey of methods for soil moisture determination

Cited by 369 publications

References 105 publications

Monitoring soil wetness variations by means of satellite passive microwave observations: the HYDROPTIMET study cases

Monitoring soil wetness variations by means of satellite passive microwave observations: the HYDROPTIMET study cases

Soil Moisture & Snow Properties Determination with GNSS in Alpine Environments: Challenges, Status, and Perspectives

Calibration and modification of impedance probe for near surface soil moisture measurements

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