The purpose of this research has been to identify relationships between soil moisture and the growth and development of microorganisms, their diversity and the activity of soil enzymes. Four soils with different texture were analysed. Air-dry soils were watered up to the moisture content corresponding to 20, 40 and 60% of the maximum water capacity (MWC) and subsequently were submitted to deter...

As one of soil dynamics properties, soil moisture content is an important factor of soil fertility which counts for much to crop growth situation and scientific irrigation management. A design plan of regional spatial variation of soil moisture measurement was introduced. Its main job includes the use of differential GPS technology for each sampling points in farmland, collecting data of high-p...

Recent studies have shown that a variety of remote sensing techniques may be used for the estimation of soil moisture over large areas. The shallow moisture sensing depth of passive microwave measurements, however, limits the use of remotely sensed soil moisture for many land–atmosphere interaction studies. In this study, a method is proposed for soil moisture profile estimation by sequential a...

Soil moisture estimation studies using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) routinely utilise only the amplitude part of the received echo. In this study, repeat-pass Cand L-band interferometric SAR coherence from 2007 2009 was evaluated for the detection of surface soil moisture changes in the presence of vegetation using two different approaches. In the first analysis, the association between low c...

The potential of the ERS-1/2 scatterometer global soil moisture product has been shown in several studies. The ASCAT sensor on-board the METOP satellite is extending the 16 year time series of the ERS-1/2 scatterometer as a source for extracting information for ocean and land applications. Calibrated ASCAT data will continue the scatterometer global soil moisture archive while improving both th...

[1] We explore and review the value of soil moisture measurements in vadose zone hydrology with a focus on the field and catchment scales. This review is motivated by the increasing ability to measure soil moisture with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution across scales. We highlight and review the state of the art in using soil moisture measurements for (1) estimation of soil hydrauli...

To investigate the mechanism of available energy partitioning to sensible and latent heat fluxes over semi-arid regions, data from the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL) were analyzed to assess the effects of soil moisture, net radiation, and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on available energy partitioning, as quantified by Bowen ratio. It was found that th...

A high moisture level in the top 10 cm of soil at time of cutting of alfalfa increased the incidence of plant mortality and Fusarium wilt in soil infested with Ditylenchus dipsaci and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. medicaginis in greenhouse and field microplot studies. Ranger alfalfa, susceptible to both D. dipsaci and F. oxysporum f. sp. medicaginis, was less persistent than Moapa 69 (nematode susc...

This paper examines the effects of soil moisture initialization in a coupled air quality–meteorological model on temperature profiles, wind speeds, and pollutant concentrations. Three simulations, each with different initial soil moisture fields, were run. In the baseline simulation, predicted temperatures, wind speeds, and gas/aerosol pollutant concentrations accurately matched observations. I...

To improve the understanding of water–vegetation relationships, direct comparative studies assessing the utility of satellite remotely sensed soil moisture, gridded precipitation products, and land surface model output are needed. A case study was investigated for a water-limited, lateral inflow receiving area in northeastern Australia during December 2008 to May 2009. In January 2009, monthly ...