SMAPVEX16-Iowa: Soil Moisture, Temperature, and Precipitation Network Data

2016 measurements of soil moisture, soil temperature, and precipitation from a permanent sensor network deployed for the SMAPVEX16-Iowa experiment. The network covered an approximately 30km by 40km domain located about 30 km north of Ames, Iowa, USA. This dataset supports the validation of satellite soil moisture products and related land surface studies.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived soil moisture estimates based on in-situ ground measurements.
• Analyzing the relationship between precipitation events and soil moisture response across multiple stations.
• Studying spatial and temporal patterns of soil temperature and moisture for agricultural water management.
• Calibrating or testing land surface and hydrological models using observed soil and precipitation data.

Strengths

• Data is associated with a specific, well-documented field campaign (SMAPVEX16-Iowa), providing context for its collection.
• Covers multiple related environmental variables (soil moisture, soil temperature, precipitation) at the same locations.
• Has a defined spatial coverage of approximately 30km by 40km, indicating a network of stations rather than a single point.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing or conflicting: column names and data volume are unknown, and the 'last updated' date conflicts between 2016 and 2026 across sources.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to a single year (2016), which may not capture long-term trends or interannual variability.
• Documentation appears sparse, with no details on sensor types, measurement frequency, or data processing methods.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements recorded by a permanent soil moisture network during the SMAPVEX16-Iowa field experiment.

Time Range

2016

Freshness

2026-03-13 20:36:07.866731 (from datagov), though this conflicts with a 2016 date from nasa_earthdata.

Geography

Approximately 30km by 40km domain located about 30 km north of Ames, Iowa, USA.