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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #382004
Research Project: Integrating Remote Sensing, Measurements and Modeling for Multi-Scale Assessment of Water Availability, Use, and Quality in Agroecosystems

Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory

Title: Developing a strategy for the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network

Author
item Cosh, Michael
item CALDWELL, T. - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item BAKER, B. - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
item BOLTEN, J. - National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA)
item EDWARDS, N. - South Dakota State University
item GOBLE, P. - Colorado State University
item HOFMAN, H. - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item OCHSNER, T. - Oklahoma State University
item QUIRING, S. - The Ohio State University
item SCHALK, C. - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item SKUMANICH, M. - Collaborator
item SVOBODA, M. - University Of Nebraska
item WOLOSZYN, M. - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Submitted to: Vadose Zone Journal
Publication Type: Research Technical Update
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/8/2021
Publication Date: 6/7/2021
Citation: Cosh, M.H., Caldwell, T., Baker, B., Bolten, J., Edwards, N., Goble, P., Hofman, H., Ochsner, T., Quiring, S.M., Schalk, C., Skumanich, M., Svoboda, M., Woloszyn, M. 2021. Developing a strategy for the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network . Vadose Zone Journal. 20:4. https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20139.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20139

Interpretive Summary: The National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network is a new initiative to coordinate soil moisture monitoring activities within the United States. From watershed, state, and national networks, there are a variety of techniques for monitoring soil moisture, but there is not a defined strategy for coordinating station deployment, calibration, validation, and product delivery. This research update provides a review of the current status of network activities.

Technical Abstract: Soil moisture is a critical land surface variable, impacting a wide variety of climatological, agricultural, and hydrological processes. Determining the current soil moisture status is possible via a variety of methods, including in situ monitoring, remote sensing and numerical modeling. While all of these approaches are rapidly evolving, there is no cohesive strategy or framework to integrate these diverse information sources to develop and disseminate coordinated national soil moisture products that will improve our ability to understand climate variability. The National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network initiative was established in 2018, to lead the development of a national strategy in coordination with NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System. The strategy is currently in review within NOAA, but work is underway to implement the initial milestones of the strategy. This update reviews the goals and steps being taken to establish this national scale coordination for soil moisture monitoring in the United States.