Final Report-Soil Moisture-Based Drought Monitoring for the South Central Region
Dates
Publication Date
2018
Citation
Ochsner T., Quiring S., Zhang N., Krueger E., 2018, Soil Moisture-Based Drought Monitoring for the South Central Region.
Summary
Drought is among the most damaging of all natural disasters, with complex economic, environmental, and social effects that are often far-reaching and long-lasting. A key indicator of drought severity is the amount of water stored in the soil, often referred to as soil moisture, yet soil moisture measurements are generally underused for drought monitoring. This was once unavoidable because of a lack of soil moisture data, but the situation changed with the advent of large-scale monitoring networks that began in the 1990’s. Still, several key challenges limit the use of in situ soil moisture data for drought monitoring, and inhibit its translation into actionable information for producers and natural resource managers: (1) few studies [...]
Summary
Drought is among the most damaging of all natural disasters, with complex economic, environmental, and social effects that are often far-reaching and long-lasting. A key indicator of drought severity is the amount of water stored in the soil, often referred to as soil moisture, yet soil moisture measurements are generally underused for drought monitoring. This was once unavoidable because of a lack of soil moisture data, but the situation changed with the advent of large-scale monitoring networks that began in the 1990’s. Still, several key challenges limit the use of in situ soil moisture data for drought monitoring, and inhibit its translation into actionable information for producers and natural resource managers: (1) few studies have evaluated the potential role of existing large scale soil moisture networks for drought monitoring (2), there are no standards for measurement depths and sensing technologies, and (3) harmonized data are not readily available across monitoring networks. Our study directly addressed these challenges through two specific aim
1.Develop readily understandable, scientifically sound, soil moisture-based drought indices for the South Central region.
2.Create a harmonized soil moisture dataset for the South Central region.
Specific aim #1 was accomplished by evaluating and refining soil-moisture based indices using soil moisture data from the Oklahoma Mesonet and West Texas Mesonet. In separate studies, we identified the most promising indices based on relationships with wildfire and with crop yield. Specific aim #2 was accomplished using data from the Marena, Oklahoma, In Situ Sensor Testbed (MOISST). Here we developed best practices to harmonize soil moisture data across soil depths and soil moisture monitoring networks. This allowed us to merge soil moisture data from 2005-2017 gathered from networks across the South Central region [Oklahoma Mesonet, West Texas Mesonet, NOAA Climate Reference Network (CRN), and NRCS Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)] into a publicly available, regional, soil moisture product to support drought monitoring and future climate and drought research.
