Climate researchers typically use 30-year averages to produce a climatology, but USCRN stations only have soil moisture for the last seven to nine years, depending on the station. The first step is developing an accurate record of historical conditions at each station, referred to as a climatology. Standardized soil moisture metrics transform those values into percentiles or deviations from normal to help decision makers understand how current conditions compare to historical conditions at a given time and place. For example, while a low absolute soil moisture value might indicate normal conditions if observed in the dry Southwest, the same value might suggest extreme drought conditions if observed in a wetter part of the country. The term “standardized” refers to using statistical techniques to transform raw data into more useful metrics by comparing individual observations against longer-term historical conditions. A new paper in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology documented their findings. To address this challenge, scientists from the CISESS and NCEI are using high-quality soil moisture data from USCRN to produce a new standardized hourly soil moisture dataset. As a result, getting an accurate picture of what constitutes normal conditions at a given site, and whether conditions are currently drier or wetter than normal, requires more than just current values of absolute (“volumetric”) soil moisture. Soil moisture values can also vary significantly over short distances. As with temperatures, soil moisture conditions vary by region, season, and time of day, but they also depend on soil type, land cover, and local elevations and slopes. That is partly because context matters for soil moisture data-a lot. However, turning these data into actionable information is challenging. Soil moisture data can provide early warning of an emerging drought or saturated soils that can increase the likelihood of floods. The researchers hope to help farmers, land managers, and others prepare for changing conditions. One major goal of the research has been to give decision makers earlier warning and better information on the onset of or recovery from drought and flood conditions. But these numbers alone don’t provide a complete picture of soil moisture conditions, so scientists at NCEI and the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS) are developing new datasets that will provide better information about local hydrologic conditions. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) observing stations provide detailed soil moisture data on an hourly basis at 114 locations across the country. They are working well to demonstrate the effectiveness of turf surfactants to golf courses, and the customers that bought them, love them.NOAA’s U.S. “We have four TH2O 's, one for each of our reps. Donald Altman, Forest Hills Country Club The TH2O takes the guess work out of irrigating.” It is one of the best tools that we have purchased in a long time.
“It has worked very well for us, especially in predicting localized dry spots. We are using the TH2O to watch putting surfaces, especially during summer, to track dry spots and irrigate to avoid drought stress." "We have had the TH2O for about three years, and bought another one this year.
#VOLUMETRIX SOIL MOISTURE INSTALL#
You may also install access tubes and take soil moisture reading from deep within the soil profile.
The TH2O probe is inserted into the soil and when the readout button is pushed the LCD shows the soil water content as a decimal value. The battery-powered hand held readout provides instantaneous readings for mineral or organic soils. The dielectric reading is then converted to volumetric water content (☑% accuracy). The sensor sends a microwave signal and analyzes a reflected signal to measure the dieletric constant (theta) of the soil. The probe is reliable even in saline soils and its compact size means minimal substrate disturbance. It combines ease of use and accuracy with low cost, to give growers, land managers and engineers immediate precise soil moisture data. The TH2O is a new way to measure volumetric soil moisture content.
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