Soil moisture is the quantity of water contained within the unsaturated zone of soil, typically expressed as volumetric water content or gravimetric water content, and is a central variable in hydrology, agronomy, and land–atmosphere interaction studies. It governs soil hydraulic conductivity, matric potential, and the partitioning of precipitation into infiltration, runoff, and evapotranspiration. Soil moisture strongly regulates plant water availability, microbial activity, and biogeochemical cycling, and is measured using in situ sensors (e.g., time-domain reflectometry, capacitance probes), lysimeters, or remotely sensed estimates from microwave and thermal observations. It is a key state variable in land surface models, drought monitoring systems, and climate and weather prediction frameworks.
Forest soils have an important role in protecting our climate: They remove large quantities of methane—a powerful greenhouse gas—from our atmosphere. Researchers from the University of Göttingen and the Baden-Württemberg ...
Earth Sciences
14 hours ago
0
6
Wetlands make up only about 6% of the land area but contain about 30% of the terrestrial organic carbon pool. Therefore, CO2 emissions from wetlands are central to the global climate balance. In Denmark, the plan is to flood ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 29, 2026
2
116
Water is everywhere, from the snowpack in the mountains to the tap in our kitchens. But while we often think about rainfall and snow as the main drivers of our water supply, it turns out that something we rarely see has just ...
A new study has examined how future human missions to Mars could access one of the planet's most vital resources—water. The "Martian aqua: occurrence of water and appraisal of acquisition technologies" paper, published ...
Space Exploration
Jan 22, 2026
0
9
Recent reports of wells drying up in New Hampshire reflect a pattern we're increasingly seeing across New England: extended dry periods and below-normal precipitation are stressing shallow groundwater systems that many homeowners ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 7, 2026
0
1
A new study led by Prof. Duan Weili from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate datasets for global soil moisture research. ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 4, 2025
0
0
Much of the Midwest is experiencing drought due to very dry weather in the late summer and early fall. Half of the state of Illinois is in a severe drought, and portions of Central Illinois are in an extreme drought, affecting ...
Environment
Oct 28, 2025
0
42
A new study has uncovered a surprising and concerning paradox: although Earth's vegetation cover has expanded dramatically over the past four decades, this widespread "greening" trend is often associated with a decline in ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 25, 2025
1
43
The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, launched in 2015, has over 10 years of global L-band radiometry observations. The low frequency [1.4 GHz frequency or 21 cm (8 in) wavelength] measurements provide information ...
Astrobiology
Aug 19, 2025
0
0
From lifelong farmers to backyard gardeners, most plant-lovers know that adding organic matter to a field, vegetable plot or flowerpot increases the soil's moisture. Now, for the first time, Northwestern University scientists ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 11, 2025
0
41
