Soil Moisture and Drought Monitoring

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil-Sediment-Water Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (8 March 2023) | Viewed by 4285

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Rural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea
Interests: water–energy–food nexus; drought; climate change; water security; food security

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drought is the world’s costliest disaster and affects a large number of people every year, and climate change will aggravate water scarcity. In recent years, the increased intensity and duration of droughts has dramatically altered the structure and function of grassland ecosystems, which have been forced to adapt to this change in climate.

There are several definitions of drought based on precipitation, soil moisture, or potential evapotranspiration. Especially, soil moisture is the key factor of crop water requirement in both non- and irrigation areas, and managing soil moisture is an essential action for sustainable water management coping with severe drought condition. 

Therefore, in this Special Issue, we will encourage analysis of soil moisture through various instruments including remote sensing and fields monitoring. Based on soil moisture monitoring, we can analyze the influence of drought and take steps for overcoming drought in advance. Accordingly, various research about soil moisture monitoring and drought management will contribute to manage water and food security under climate change situation; thus, we hope that many researchers will share their efforts with other researchers, students, and others through this Special Issue.

Dr. Sanghyun Lee
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • soil moisture
  • drought
  • water security
  • irrigation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6460 KiB  
Article
Investigating Near-Surface Hydrologic Connectivity in a Grass-Covered Inter-Row Area of a Hillslope Vineyard Using Field Monitoring and Numerical Simulations
by Vedran Krevh, Lana Filipović, Jasmina Defterdarović, Igor Bogunović, Yonggen Zhang, Zoran Kovač, Andrew Barton and Vilim Filipović
Land 2023, 12(5), 1095; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/land12051095 - 19 May 2023
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Abstract
The interplay of surface and shallow subsurface fluxes plays a critical role in controlling water movement in hillslope agroecosystems and impacting soil and plant health during prolonged dry periods, demonstrating a need for in-field monitoring. This study was conducted for two years (2021–2022) [...] Read more.
The interplay of surface and shallow subsurface fluxes plays a critical role in controlling water movement in hillslope agroecosystems and impacting soil and plant health during prolonged dry periods, demonstrating a need for in-field monitoring. This study was conducted for two years (2021–2022) by combining field monitoring of the grass-covered inter-row area (passive wick lysimeter, surface runoff, and meteorological data), laboratory determination of soil hydraulic properties (SHPs), and numerical modeling with the aim to explore near-surface fluxes at the SUPREHILL Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) located on a hillslope vineyard. Additionally, sensitivity analysis for basic root water uptake (RWU) parameters was conducted. The model was evaluated (R2, RMSE, and NSE) with lysimeter (hillslope) and runoff (footslope) data, producing good agreement, but only after the inverse optimization of laboratory estimated hydraulic conductivity was conducted, demonstrating that adequate parameterization is required to capture the hydropedological response of erosion-affected soil systems. Results exhibit the dependence of runoff generation on hydraulic conductivity, rainfall, and soil moisture conditions. The data suggest different soil-rewetting scenarios based on temporal rainfall variability. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that Leaf Area Index (LAI) was the most responsive parameter determining the RWU. The study offers an approach for the investigation of fluxes in the topsoil for similar sites and/or crops (and covers), presenting the methodology of self-constructed soil–water collection instruments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Moisture and Drought Monitoring)
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10 pages, 2222 KiB  
Article
Increase in Productivity of Chestnut Soils on Irrigated Lands of Northern and Central Kazakhstan
by Alexey Rau, Yelzaveta Koibakova, Balgabayev Nurlan, Madina Nabiollina, Zhanymhan Kurmanbek, Yerlan Issakov, Kai Zhu and Lóránt Dénes Dávid
Land 2023, 12(3), 672; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/land12030672 - 13 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1624
Abstract
Natural conditions in North and Central Kazakhstan and the energy potential of chestnut soil testify to the efficiency of agriculture, especially on irrigated lands. The humus horizon of chestnut soils is 35–50 cm, and the humus content is 3.0–3.5%. The majority of the [...] Read more.
Natural conditions in North and Central Kazakhstan and the energy potential of chestnut soil testify to the efficiency of agriculture, especially on irrigated lands. The humus horizon of chestnut soils is 35–50 cm, and the humus content is 3.0–3.5%. The majority of the humus (75%) is contained in a half-meter layer, which emphasizes the short humus level. The phosphorus content, both gross and mobile, is very low at 0.98–0.031%. Potassium is in elevated amounts. Soils are most susceptible to the application of nitrogen–phosphorus fertilizers. According to the mechanical composition, chestnut soils are predominantly lightly loamy, light clays with substrates of souses. Salinization is low, with a salt content in the 0–100 cm soil layer of 0.10–0.20%. The mass of the arable soil layer is 1.3–1.4 g/cm3. Deep plowing and loosening of soils improve the water and nutrition regime, creating good conditions for arid agriculture. With deep autumn plowing up to 30 cm, the accumulation of sediment and spring meltwater reaches 1200–1500 m3/ha more than in spring disposal. Deep plowing ensures absorption of irrigation water, eliminates run-off during irrigation, and reduces the number of crops requiring extra irrigation. In an average dry year, at 50% water availability and 70% soil moisture content (MC), the number of irrigations is 4, and the irrigation rate is 300–470 m3/ha; at 60% MC, 2 irrigations are performed, and the irrigation rate is 600–650 m3/ha. On irrigated land, the yield of cereals is 2.8–2.6 t/ha; perennial grasses, 3.0–4.5 t/ha; potatoes, 23.2–24.1 t/ha; carrots, 35.0–40.0 t/ha; and cabbage, 50.0–75.0 t/ha. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Moisture and Drought Monitoring)
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18 pages, 50739 KiB  
Article
Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Evapotranspiration in the Upper Minjiang River Basin Based on the SiB2 Model
by Bo Kong, Bing He, Xiangmeng Liu and Huan Yu
Land 2022, 11(8), 1141; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/land11081141 - 25 Jul 2022
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Abstract
The evapotranspiration (ET) in mountainous watersheds affects the security of downstream water supply and ecological safety. Continuous time-varying ET cannot be obtained by traditional methods such as remote sensing and ground observations. In this study, a simple biosphere model 2 (SiB2) was parameterized [...] Read more.
The evapotranspiration (ET) in mountainous watersheds affects the security of downstream water supply and ecological safety. Continuous time-varying ET cannot be obtained by traditional methods such as remote sensing and ground observations. In this study, a simple biosphere model 2 (SiB2) was parameterized in a typical mountainous area, the upper Minjiang River, using field observations and remote sensing data. The performance of SiB2 was then assessed by comparing it with direct measurements of the evaporation dishes. The results showed that (1) at the daily scale, the simulated ET was smaller than the measured ET. At the monthly scale, the relative errors between the simulated and measured values ranged from 1.48% to 20.72%. The relative error between the simulated and measured values of the total annual ET is 6.99%; (2) the ET of Minjiang River was characterized by a “bimodal” variation, with lower daily ET from November to February (non-growing season) and higher daily ET from March to August (growing season); (3) the ET of Minjiang River showed the spatial characteristics of low in the northwest and high in the southeast, with a high-value center located in Dujiangyan City. In summary, SiB2 is suitable for simulating ET in mountainous watersheds with spatial and temporal continuity. This study can contribute to the enhancement of water resources use planning and basin management in the upper Minjiang River. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Moisture and Drought Monitoring)
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