Soil Moisture and Temperature Profiles from Wireless Sensor Network

Soil moisture and temperature data have been collected at 30-minute intervals from wireless sensor installations across sites in the United States and New Zealand since 2021. The SoilSCAPE network, operated by NASA, provides high temporal resolution in-situ measurements from probes installed at depths up to 75 cm. This dataset supports the validation of satellite-based soil moisture estimates from missions like SMAP and CYGNSS.

Use Cases

• Validating regional-scale soil moisture estimates from NASA's SMAP and CYGNSS satellites using in-situ probe data.
• Analyzing soil moisture profile dynamics at depths of 5, 10, 20, 30, and up to 75 cm.
• Studying local-scale soil temperature and moisture variability across a network of up to 57 wireless sensor nodes.
• Calibrating hydrological models with high-frequency (30-minute) soil moisture time-series data.

Strengths

• Provides high temporal resolution data with a 30-minute sampling interval.
• Offers detailed vertical profiling with sensors installed at up to five depths per node.
• Network scale is substantial, with a maximum of 57 wireless sensor installations across multiple sites.

Limitations

• Sensor placement may be limited by soil conditions such as hard soil or rocks.
• Cross-source conflict: The last updated date differs significantly between platforms (2026-03-12 on Data.gov vs 2023-02-03 on NASA Earthdata).
• Key metadata such as exact row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Data gathered via wireless sensor network (SoilSCAPE) using METER Teros-12 soil moisture sensors.

Time Range

2011 to present, with a major network upgrade and new data since 2021.

Freshness

Most recent update reported is 2026-03-12 on Data.gov, though this conflicts with the NASA Earthdata date.

Geography

Sites in the United States (including Arizona) and New Zealand.