Research on the Variation in Soil Moisture in Arid Regions in Northern China Based on AMSR-E

Abstract

Soil moisture plays an important role in agricultural drought monitoring. However, the traditional observed soil moisture data from meteorological stations has not been able to meet the demands for large-scale drought monitoring temporally and spatially. The microwave remote sensing is a new effective way for obtaining near surface soil moisture. The temporal and spatial variation in soil moisture in arid regions in northern China is examined based on the soil moisture data retrieved from AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS), with which the observed soil moisture data at 10 cm depth from meteorological stations are compared. The results show that there is a small change in soil moisture with seasons for the central and west areas, while a large change for the east areas of the study region and the soil moisture in summer and autumn is greater than that in spring and winter. And that it decreases from southeast to northwest spatially, as is agree with the spatial distribution of precipitation in the study area. Moreover, there is a great difference in spatial distribution between the soil moisture retrieved from AMSR-E and the observed soil moisture data from meteorological stations for the central and west areas, while a small difference for the east areas of the study region.