SMEX03 Soil Moisture and Precipitation Data from Georgia

SMEX03 Little River Micronet Soil Moisture Data: Georgia, Version 1 contains in-situ measurements from the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003. NASA collected data from the Little River Watershed in southeastern Georgia using soil moisture sensors at multiple depths and tipping bucket rain gauges. The dataset's availability on multiple platforms indicates its established role in land surface and hydrological studies.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived soil moisture estimates using in-situ measurements at 2, 8, and 12-inch depths.
• Analyzing the relationship between precipitation events from tipping bucket gauges and near-surface soil moisture dynamics.
• Studying soil thermal properties and electrical conductivity for land surface process modeling.
• Calibrating watershed-scale hydrological models for the southeastern US region.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled NASA field experiment (Soil Moisture Experiment 2003), ensuring methodological rigor.
• Provides multi-depth soil moisture measurements (2, 8, 12 inches) for vertical profile analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals peer-reviewed importance and reuse.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is listed as 2003-08 31 on NASA EarthData but 2026-03-12 on Data.gov, creating uncertainty about versioning.
• The complete column schema, row count, and file size are not documented on any available platform.
• The specific license terms under 'other-license-specified' are not defined.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected using in situ soil moisture sensors and tipping bucket rain gauges as part of the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03).

Time Range

2003

Freshness

2003-08-31 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Little River Watershed (LRW) Micronet regional study areas, southeastern Georgia, US