Summary
This paper describes the establishment and first-year operation of a regional soil moisture monitoring network in the Raam catchment, Netherlands, comprising 15 instrumented sites with standardised sensor placement and soil-specific calibration. The network was designed to address local water management challenges including summer droughts and winter/extreme precipitation flooding, and provides a reference dataset for calibrating remote-sensing and modelling products. Data and ancillary information (soil characteristics, elevation, land cover, geohydrological model outputs) are made openly available for scientific research.
UK applicability
The methodology and instrumentation approach would be directly applicable to UK water management, particularly for lowland catchments facing similar seasonal water stress and flood risk. The calibration protocols and multi-depth monitoring design could inform UK soil water monitoring networks, though UK soils and hydrological conditions would require independent site-specific sensor calibration.
Key measures
Soil moisture content (volumetric water content, m³ m⁻³) at depths 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 cm; soil temperature; phreatic groundwater levels; meteorological data; sensor accuracy (0.02 m³ m⁻³)
Outcomes reported
The study established a regional soil moisture and temperature monitoring network across 15 sites (14 agricultural fields and 1 natural grassland) in the Raam region, with measurements at five soil depths over a one-year period. The network provides calibrated in situ data on soil water availability and unsaturated zone storage capacity, with an accuracy of 0.02 m³ m⁻³ achieved through soil-specific laboratory calibration of sensors.
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