Feasibility of Soil Moisture Monitoring on a State Mesonet

With the rapidly increasing number of in-situ soil moisture monitoring sites, there is opportunity in both academia and private industry to advance our understanding of land-atmosphere feedbacks, agricultural droughts, flash flooding, and groundwater recharge rates. To adjust with this growing demand, the Kansas Mesonet has implemented soil moisture sensors at 42 of the 62 stations on the network. This presentation will provide discussion on the challenges and steps of deploying soil moisture sensors across the Mesonet. The major steps include the development of a field protocol, sensor placement, soil depths, soil types, sensor maintenance, sensor field and laboratory calibration. Throughout the presentation, we will also refer to the myriad of problems and challenges that we encountered while deploying soil moisture sensors into Kansas’s existing in-situ network, including inclement weather, manpower, and budgetary constraints. Despite the substantial effort, the overall benefit of these regional network measurements usually out-weigh initial cost. Careful consideration must be taken to ensure that the equipment, procedures, and protocols are replicable and scientifically sound for accurate measurements and dissemination. Although not necessarily the process that other networks should follow, this presentation should assist other networks interested in expanding to soil moisture measurements before undertaking the significant addition.