Summary
This paper documents the establishment and first-year performance of the Raam soil moisture monitoring network in the Netherlands, comprising 15 instrumented sites distributed across a region experiencing both summer water stress and winter/extreme precipitation excess. Equipped with Decagon 5TM sensors and laboratory-calibrated for soil-specific conditions, the network provides in situ soil moisture and temperature profiles validated to ±0.02 m³ m⁻³ accuracy. The data and accompanying ancillary measurements (groundwater, meteorology, soil properties, land cover) are intended to support water management decisions and serve as a reference dataset for calibration and validation of earth observation and hydrological models.
UK applicability
The monitoring methodology and sensor calibration approach are directly transferable to UK agricultural contexts, where soil water availability assessment is increasingly critical under climate variability. UK regions with similar water stress challenges (e.g. eastern England in summer drought periods, or areas prone to winter waterlogging) could benefit from comparable in situ networks to underpin water management and validated remote sensing applications.
Key measures
Volumetric soil moisture content (m³ m⁻³) at depths of 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 cm; soil temperature; phreatic groundwater levels; meteorological data; sensor calibration accuracy (0.02 m³ m⁻³ under laboratory conditions)
Outcomes reported
The study established and described a soil moisture profile monitoring network across 15 sites (14 agricultural and 1 natural grassland) in the Raam region, equipped with sensors measuring soil moisture and temperature at five depths (5–80 cm) over a one-year period (April 2016–April 2017). The network provides calibrated soil moisture data and supporting meteorological, hydrological and soil characterisation data for water management decisions and validation of remote sensing and modelling products.
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