Site Averaged Soil Moisture Data from 1987 FIFE Experiment

Site Averaged Gravimetric Soil Moisture Data from the 1987 (Betts) dataset provides daily averages of soil water content collected during the 1987-1989 FIFE field campaign. The data represents site-averaged product samples from 1987 only. It is managed by the ORNL_CLOUD organization.

Use Cases

• Validating remote sensing soil moisture algorithms using ground-based gravimetric measurements.
• Analyzing temporal soil moisture dynamics at specific field sites during the 1987 growing season.
• Supporting hydrological and climate model studies with averaged site-level soil water content data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a major field campaign (FIFE) focused on land-atmosphere interactions.
• Provides processed, site-averaged values for consistent daily analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov indicates recognized importance.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: last updated date is listed as both 1987-11-06 and 2026-03 12.
• No column names, row counts, or file sizes are provided in any source description.
• Dataset scope is limited to data from the single year 1987.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Gravimetric soil moisture samples collected during FIFE, averaged per site and then per day.

Time Range

1987

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:28:12.821967

Geography

FIFE experimental site (Konza Prairie, Kansas).