Soil moisture is a driving factor for the partitioning of hydrological fluxes near the soil surface, and thus directly impacts evaporation and precipitation. Unfortunately, soil moisture exhibits considerable spatial and temporal variability that cannot be accounted for conventional in situ monitoring networks.
Luckily, multiple satellite constellations are available which can be used to estimate soil moisture. Due to their increasing spatial and temporal resolution, these data are becoming increasingly useful for large-scale monitoring of soil moisture conditions. As such, the data can, for instance, potentially be used for a better understanding of drought stress and for improving agricultural water use efficiency.
| Project | Partners | Description | Funding |
| Hydro-CSI | Wageningen University & Research, LIST | Within the framework of the Hydro-CSI Doctoral Training Unit (https://www.list.lu/en/research/project/hydro-csi/), the possibilities for high-resolution soil moisture estimates from Sentinel-1 data are explored. After evaluation the accuracy of these data, their limits will be tested in a hydrological model. | FNR PRIDE |