Evaluating the Correlation Between Soil Moistue and Net Solar Radiation

Soil moisture and net solar radiation play a big role in surface dynamics, especially in energy and water budgets. Knowing soil moisture and net radiation at the Earth's surface plays an important role in agriculture, as dry, high incoming radiation conditions could ruin a harvest season and cause extensive drought. Previous studies have shown that variation of soil moisture during the year depends on climate and location; Places like Oklahoma exhibit four phases of soil moisture, with drier spring and summer months followed by wetter falls and winters. In Mongolia, contrarily, three soil moisture phases are evident: spring drying, summer recharge, and fall drying, with increased summer precipitations. Seasonal fluctuations occur around the world and are mostly due to rain patterns. Solar radiation also exhibits seasonal change. In Southeast Asia, spring and fall months display higher values of solar radiation flux, while summer and winter months show decreases in flux values. Changes in radiation are due to cloud cover and evaporation rates. During this study, measurements of soil moisture and net solar radiation will be taken at Watermann Farm in Columbus, Ohio throughout the fall to gauge whether a correlation exists between the two variables. Measurements will be taken in several locations around the farm to get a fair amount of data to explore the relationship between both variables. Although little information is known how soil moisture and solar radiation are related in our area of interest, using reanalysis data of soil moisture values and net solar radiation values from previous years in Ohio will hopefully bridge this gap. This research is important as it could help provide insight regarding harvesting times for the agricultural community and could help further drought forecasting.