SMEX03: Ground Soil Moisture and Temperature for Georgia

June-July 2003 ground measurements from the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) in Georgia, USA. This dataset includes gravimetric and volumetric soil moisture, bulk density, and surface and soil temperature. It was collected to validate soil moisture data from the AMSR-E instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived soil moisture estimates based on ground-truth gravimetric and volumetric measurements.
• Assessing the impact of surface temperature and soil texture on soil moisture accuracy for remote sensing.
• Calibrating bulk density parameters in land surface models using field-collected data.
• Determining geographic regions suitable for AMSR-E soil moisture measurements based on ground campaign results.

Strengths

• Data originates from a defined NASA field experiment (SMEX03) with a clear scientific mission for satellite validation.
• Covers multiple key soil parameters: gravimetric moisture, volumetric moisture, bulk density, and temperature.
• Has a precise temporal coverage of June and July 2003.

Limitations

• Column names and data structure are not specified in the provided metadata, limiting understanding of the data's organization.
• Conflicting last-update dates between platforms (2003 vs. 2026) create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• Dataset size and row count are unknown.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected as part of the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) field campaign.

Time Range

June-July 2003

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: 2003-07-02 on nasa_earthdata vs. 2026-04-09 on datagov.

Geography

Georgia, USA study region