Description:

Soil moisture is a critical land surface variable, impacting a wide variety of climatological, agricultural, and hydrological processes. As a result, soil moisture measurements are needed for applications ranging from agricultural monitoring, to weather prediction, to drought and flood forecasting. At the same time, the means and methods of monitoring soil moisture are undergoing rapid growth and innovation with the advent of new in situ and proximal sensors, new remote sensing technologies, and enhanced modeling capabilities.

Soil moisture is a particularly timely and salient topic given the progress at the national level to develop a strategy for the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network, which was called for by Congress in the National Integrated Drought and Information System (NIDIS) Reauthorization Act of 2018.

In this session, we seek abstract submissions that focus on soil moisture assessment from:  Private, Regional, and National networks, remote sensing, modeling - and specifically the integration of these data sources into soil moisture products. Specifically, we seek abstracts that highlight how soil moisture data and products can be used to help improve our understanding and prediction of hazards (e.g., drought, flood, wildfire, severe weather), and highlight the value these products have for effective decision making.