Earth  ID: 30177

Measuring Soil Moisture from Space

Released on October 17, 2013
There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30730
These maps combine data from the twin satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) with other satellite and ground-based measurements to model the relative amount of water stored at three different levels: at the surface, at plant root level and underground from January 2003 to December 2014. The wetness, or water content, of each layer is compared to the average between 1948 and 2009. The darkest red regions represent dry conditions that should occur only 2 percent of the time (about once every 50 years). All of the maps are experimental products funded by NASA’s Applied Sciences Program and developed by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center. The maps do not attempt to represent human consumption of water; but rather, they show changes in water storage related to weather, climate, and seasonal patterns.
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Soil moisture at various depths is found from ground- and space-based data
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Soil moisture in the root zone compared o ground water storage.
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A Soil Surface Moisture map showing moisture content in the top 2 centimeters of surface soil.
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A Root Zone Soil Moisture map showing moisture content in the “root zone,” or the top meter (39 inches) of soil.
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A Ground Water Storage map showing groundwater in aquifers.
 

Newer Version

High-Resolution Soil Moisture Maps

For More Information

http://drought.unl.edu/MonitoringTools/NASAGRACEDataAssimilation.aspx

Credits

Marit Jentoft-Nilsen: Project Support
Mark Malanoski (GST): Project Support
Heather Hanson (GST): Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30177

Mission:
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)

Data Used:
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Drought Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Ground Water
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> Presentation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Land Surface/agriculture Indicators >> Drought Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Natural Hazards >> Droughts

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0