P2.4 Regional variability of soil moisture from SCAN measurements: implication for land surface modeling and assimilation (2008

P2.4

Regional variability of soil moisture from SCAN measurements: implication for land surface modeling and assimilation

Georgy Mostovoy, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS; and V. Anantharaj and L. Wasson

Soil moisture (volumetric water content at 5 levels spanning from

the surface to 1 m depth) data measured at the SCAN network over the Mississippi

Delta Region have been analyzed. Two-year time series of soil moisture daily

data from twelve SCAN sites located within 2.5x2.5 latitude-

longitude box were used for the temporal and spatial analysis.

The main objective of this analysis was two-fold. First goal

was to identify temporal and spatial peculiarities (such as typical local

wetting/drying rates and depths reflecting a capability of the soil "memory")

of soil moisture distribution at various SCAN sites. The second one was to associate

these peculiarities with control parameters/factors from the soil-landscape-atmosphere

continuum. The following factors were considered: precipitation, solar

radiation at the surface, water table, and soil texture and its variation with depth.

This study will be helpful for interpretation and reconciling frequently observed

differences/biases between soil moisture simulated by land surface models and

that of measured.