Evaluation of In-Situ Soil Moisture Metrics to Monitoring Hydrological Extremes

Interactions between the soil and atmosphere result in important feedbacks that elevate societal risks during hydrological extremes.  For instance, drought conditions can warm surface temperatures and elevate heat wave intensity, and moist soil conditions prior to precipitation contributing to flooding potential.  While soil conditions can provide important insights when assessing societal risks, the scarcity of in situ soil moisture measurements combined with the sensitivity of soil observations to local soil properties, topography, and climate make it challenging to monitor soil conditions over spatial scales relevant to societal impact assessments. In this study we explore methods to standardize in situ measurements from the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN).  It is anticipated that standardized soil moisture metrics from multiple networks may provide a more holistic framework for evaluating the severity of hydrological extremes and associated societal risks over relevant spatial scales.