A soil moisture network for SMOS validation in Western Denmark

Simone Bircher; N. Skou; Karsten Høgh Jensen; J.P. Walker; L. Rasmussen

doi:10.5194/hess-16-1445-2012

A soil moisture network for SMOS validation in Western Denmark

Simone Bircher, N. Skou, Karsten Høgh Jensen, J.P. Walker, L. Rasmussen

Geologi

73 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS) acquires surface soil moisture data of global coverage every three days. Product validation for a range of climate and environmental conditions across continents is a crucial step. For this purpose, a soil moisture and soil temperature sensor network was established in the Skjern River Catchment, Denmark. The objectives of this article are to describe a method to implement a network suited for SMOS validation, and to present sample data collected by the network to verify the approach. The design phase included (1) selection of a single SMOS pixel (44 × 44 km), which is representative of the land surface conditions of the catchment and with minimal impact from open water (2) arrangement of three network clusters along the precipitation gradient, and (3) distribution of the stations according to respective fractions of classes representing the prevailing environmental conditions. Overall, measured moisture and temperature patterns could be related to the respective land cover and soil conditions. Texture-dependency of the 0–5 cm soil moisture measurements was demonstrated. Regional differences in 0–5 cm soil moisture, temperature and precipitation between the north-east and south-west were found to be small. A first comparison between the 0–5 cm network averages and the SMOS soil moisture (level 2) product is in range with worldwide validation results, showing comparable trends for SMOS retrieved soil moisture (R2 of 0.49) as well as initial soil moisture and temperature from ECMWF used in the retrieval algorithm (R2 of 0.67 and 0.97, respectively). While retrieved/initial SMOS soil moisture indicate significant under-/overestimation of the network data (biases of -0.092/0.057 m3 m-3), the initial temperature is in good agreement (bias of -0.2 °C). Based on these findings, the network performs according to expectations and proves to be well-suited for its purpose. The discrepancies between network and SMOS soil moisture will be subject of subsequent studies

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Vol/bind	16
Udgave nummer	5
Sider (fra-til)	1445-1463
Antal sider	19
ISSN	1027-5606
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1445-2012
Status	Udgivet - 2012

Adgang til dokumentet

10.5194/hess-16-1445-2012

Citationsformater

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title = "A soil moisture network for SMOS validation in Western Denmark",

abstract = "The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS) acquires surface soil moisture data of global coverage every three days. Product validation for a range of climate and environmental conditions across continents is a crucial step. For this purpose, a soil moisture and soil temperature sensor network was established in the Skjern River Catchment, Denmark. The objectives of this article are to describe a method to implement a network suited for SMOS validation, and to present sample data collected by the network to verify the approach. The design phase included (1) selection of a single SMOS pixel (44 × 44 km), which is representative of the land surface conditions of the catchment and with minimal impact from open water (2) arrangement of three network clusters along the precipitation gradient, and (3) distribution of the stations according to respective fractions of classes representing the prevailing environmental conditions. Overall, measured moisture and temperature patterns could be related to the respective land cover and soil conditions. Texture-dependency of the 0–5 cm soil moisture measurements was demonstrated. Regional differences in 0–5 cm soil moisture, temperature and precipitation between the north-east and south-west were found to be small. A first comparison between the 0–5 cm network averages and the SMOS soil moisture (level 2) product is in range with worldwide validation results, showing comparable trends for SMOS retrieved soil moisture (R2 of 0.49) as well as initial soil moisture and temperature from ECMWF used in the retrieval algorithm (R2 of 0.67 and 0.97, respectively). While retrieved/initial SMOS soil moisture indicate significant under-/overestimation of the network data (biases of -0.092/0.057 m3 m-3), the initial temperature is in good agreement (bias of -0.2 °C). Based on these findings, the network performs according to expectations and proves to be well-suited for its purpose. The discrepancies between network and SMOS soil moisture will be subject of subsequent studies",

author = "Simone Bircher and N. Skou and Jensen, {Karsten H{\o}gh} and J.P. Walker and L. Rasmussen",

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T1 - A soil moisture network for SMOS validation in Western Denmark

AU - Bircher, Simone

AU - Skou, N.

AU - Jensen, Karsten Høgh

AU - Walker, J.P.

AU - Rasmussen, L.

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS) acquires surface soil moisture data of global coverage every three days. Product validation for a range of climate and environmental conditions across continents is a crucial step. For this purpose, a soil moisture and soil temperature sensor network was established in the Skjern River Catchment, Denmark. The objectives of this article are to describe a method to implement a network suited for SMOS validation, and to present sample data collected by the network to verify the approach. The design phase included (1) selection of a single SMOS pixel (44 × 44 km), which is representative of the land surface conditions of the catchment and with minimal impact from open water (2) arrangement of three network clusters along the precipitation gradient, and (3) distribution of the stations according to respective fractions of classes representing the prevailing environmental conditions. Overall, measured moisture and temperature patterns could be related to the respective land cover and soil conditions. Texture-dependency of the 0–5 cm soil moisture measurements was demonstrated. Regional differences in 0–5 cm soil moisture, temperature and precipitation between the north-east and south-west were found to be small. A first comparison between the 0–5 cm network averages and the SMOS soil moisture (level 2) product is in range with worldwide validation results, showing comparable trends for SMOS retrieved soil moisture (R2 of 0.49) as well as initial soil moisture and temperature from ECMWF used in the retrieval algorithm (R2 of 0.67 and 0.97, respectively). While retrieved/initial SMOS soil moisture indicate significant under-/overestimation of the network data (biases of -0.092/0.057 m3 m-3), the initial temperature is in good agreement (bias of -0.2 °C). Based on these findings, the network performs according to expectations and proves to be well-suited for its purpose. The discrepancies between network and SMOS soil moisture will be subject of subsequent studies

AB - The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS) acquires surface soil moisture data of global coverage every three days. Product validation for a range of climate and environmental conditions across continents is a crucial step. For this purpose, a soil moisture and soil temperature sensor network was established in the Skjern River Catchment, Denmark. The objectives of this article are to describe a method to implement a network suited for SMOS validation, and to present sample data collected by the network to verify the approach. The design phase included (1) selection of a single SMOS pixel (44 × 44 km), which is representative of the land surface conditions of the catchment and with minimal impact from open water (2) arrangement of three network clusters along the precipitation gradient, and (3) distribution of the stations according to respective fractions of classes representing the prevailing environmental conditions. Overall, measured moisture and temperature patterns could be related to the respective land cover and soil conditions. Texture-dependency of the 0–5 cm soil moisture measurements was demonstrated. Regional differences in 0–5 cm soil moisture, temperature and precipitation between the north-east and south-west were found to be small. A first comparison between the 0–5 cm network averages and the SMOS soil moisture (level 2) product is in range with worldwide validation results, showing comparable trends for SMOS retrieved soil moisture (R2 of 0.49) as well as initial soil moisture and temperature from ECMWF used in the retrieval algorithm (R2 of 0.67 and 0.97, respectively). While retrieved/initial SMOS soil moisture indicate significant under-/overestimation of the network data (biases of -0.092/0.057 m3 m-3), the initial temperature is in good agreement (bias of -0.2 °C). Based on these findings, the network performs according to expectations and proves to be well-suited for its purpose. The discrepancies between network and SMOS soil moisture will be subject of subsequent studies

U2 - 10.5194/hess-16-1445-2012

DO - 10.5194/hess-16-1445-2012

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1027-5606

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EP - 1463

JO - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

JF - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

IS - 5

ER -