HR: 16:45h
AN: H34D-04 [Abstracts]
TI: Watershed Scale Surface Soil Moisture Variability in the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed During the
2004 North American Monsoon
AU: * Cosh, M H
EM: mcosh@hydrolab.arsusda.gov
AF: USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Rm 104 Bldg 007 BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705
United States
AU: Jackson, T J
EM: tjackson@hydrolab.arsusda.gov
AF: USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Rm 104 Bldg 007 BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705
United States
AU: Keefer, T
EM: tkeefer@tuscon.ars.ag.gov
AF: USDA-ARS Southwest Watershed Research Laboratory, 2000 East Allen Road, Tucson, AZ 85719
United States
AB:
In an effort to validate soil moisture satellite products, such as the Advance Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR), diverse
landscapes have been studied with intensive field campaigns. Semi-arid landscapes present a particular challenge to
satellite remote sensing validation using traditional techniques because of the high spatial variability and potentially
rapid rates of temporal change in moisture conditions. For one semi-arid watershed, temporal stability and other common
techniques of geostatistical estimation are investigated for the watershed during a portion of the North American Monsoon
season of 2004. The Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed has a dense network of 88 precipitation gages of which 19 are
collocated with soil moisture sensors providing an excellent location for satellite validation experiments. In conjunction
with this monitoring network, intensive soil moisture field sampling, as part of the Soil Moisture Experiment in 2004
(SMEX04), contributed to the calibration of the network for large-scale estimation and added samples at additional raingages
that did not have permanent sensors. Large-scale estimates can be calculated using a limited number of surface sensors
with some qualifications. Geophysical aspects of the watershed, including topography and soil type are also examined for
their influence on the soil moisture variability.
DE: 1812 Drought
DE: 1866 Soil moisture
DE: 1875 Unsaturated zone
DE: 1894 Instruments and techniques
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting