Abstract

Soil moisture measurement is essential to validate hydrological models and satellite data. In this work we provide an overview of different local and plot scale soil moisture measurement techniques applied in three different conditions in terms of altitude, land use, and soil type, namely a plain, a mountain meadow and a hilly vineyard. The main goal is to provide a synoptic view of techniques supported by practical case studies to show that in such different conditions it is possible to estimate a time and spatially resolved soil moisture by the same combination of instruments: contact-based methods (i.e., Time Domain Reflectometry—TDR, and two low frequency probes) for the time resolved, and hydro-geophysical minimally-invasive methods (i.e., Electromagnetic Induction—EMI, Ground Penetrating Radar—GPR, and the Electrical Resistivity Tomography—ERT) for the spatially resolved. Both long-term soil moisture measurements and spatially resolved measurement campaigns are discussed. Technical and operational measures are detailed to allow critical factors to be identified.

Highlights

  • We describe the main characteristics of the three experimental sites together with the field campaigns layouts and the measurement methods applied in each site

  • They are representative of very different conditions: the first is a permanent meadow located in a plain, while the second is a meadow located in a sloping mountain abandoned pasture; the third is a vineyard in a hilly zone

  • The long-time survey depicted in Figure 7 shows the soil moisture data from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2006 at the following vertical depths: 0–0.3, 0–0.6, and 0–1.0 m

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Summary

Introduction

Soil moisture represents a key state variable to understand surface hydrological processes (such as drainage, evaporation and plant uptake) and it controls water and energy exchanges between the land surface and the atmosphere [4,5] contributing as key factor, in soil–snow interactions and snow gliding [6]. Through direct evaporation and plant transpiration, soil moisture regulates the partitioning of the incoming solar energy at the land surface into the outgoing sensible, latent, and ground heat fluxes. Water 2017, 9, 706 biodiversity [4], with consequences for human disease (e.g., malaria transmission [7]). This is especially important in water-scarce environments where more frequent drought events occur [8]

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