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USCRN Soil Moisture/Temperature Sensor Network
NIDIS-Supported Research
Main Summary
Between 2009 and 2024, NOAA's National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and Air Resource Laboratory (ARL) partnered in the development of and research based on a high-quality soil moisture monitoring network, the NOAA U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN). This included the procurement of soil moisture sensors, installation, data acquisition and integration, data ingest, and quality control/quality assurance for 113 stations in the contiguous U.S. and Alaska. Several research products have been developed using this data to support drought monitoring, experimental land surface modeling, and hydrological modeling.
Research Snapshot
Research Timeline
2009–2024
Principal Investigator(s)
Bruce Baker, NOAA Air Resources Laboratory
Project Funding
NIDIS
Focus Areas (DEWS Components)
Related Topics
Results of This Research
Products from this research:
- Drought indices product
- Product applying standardization methods to satellite soil moisture estimates
- High-quality historical dataset of value for modeling and other applications
Journal articles from this research:
- "Evaluating Time Domain Reflectometry and Coaxial Impedance Sensors for Soil Observations by the U.S. Climate Reference Network," Vadose Zone Journal, February 20, 2020
- "A Description and Evaluation of U.S. Climate Reference Network Standardized Soil Moisture Dataset," Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, June 19, 2019
- "Site‐Specific Soil Properties of the US Climate Reference Network Soil Moisture," Vadose Zone Journal, November 21, 2016
Key Regions
Research Scope
National
States
