SMEX05 Vegetation Water Content Data for Ames Iowa

SMEX05 Vegetation Water Content Data: Iowa, Version 1 contains vegetation water content data for the Ames, Iowa area. A vegetation sampling campaign was coordinated with satellite calibration and correction to produce an estimated Vegetation Water Content (VWC) map. The data set is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with documentation from the Principal Investigator(s) and limited support from NSIDC.

Use Cases

• Calibrating satellite-derived soil moisture estimates using ground-based vegetation water content measurements.
• Validating remote sensing models for vegetation water content in agricultural regions.
• Studying the relationship between vegetation water status and satellite sensor data for the SMEX05 campaign.

Strengths

• Dataset is part of a coordinated satellite calibration and ground sampling campaign (SMEX05).
• Provides a spatially estimated map of Vegetation Water Content (VWC) for a defined study area.

Limitations

• Documentation was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and not thoroughly reviewed by NSIDC, limiting support.
• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: datagov lists 2026-03-12, while nasa_earthdata lists 2005-07-17.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Vegetation sampling campaign coordinated with satellite calibration and correction.

Time Range

SMEX05 campaign period (specific dates unknown).

Freshness

2026-03-12 (datagov), but conflicts with older date from nasa_earthdata.

Geography

Ames, Iowa, USA area.