Grosse et al. (2025) The Potsdam Soil Moisture Observatory: High-coverage reference observations at kilometer scale

Identification

• Journal: CDI B2Share
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-12
• Authors: Grosse, Peter Martin, Marret, Elodie, Scheiffele, Lena, Dimitrova Petrova, Katya, Francke, Till, Altdorff, Daniel, Heistermann, Maik, Schiel, Merlin, Neumann, Carsten, Scheffler, Daniel, Saberioon, Mehdi, Kunz, Matthias, Zboril, Miroslav, Marach, Jonas, Reginatto, Marcel, Balenzano, Anna, Rasche, Daniel, Stumpp, Christine, Trost, Benjamin, Oswald, Sascha E.
• DOI: 10.23728/b2share.bxamy-4zh85

Research Groups

• UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Department of Monitoring and Exploration Technologies; Department of Computational Hydrosystems)
• University of Potsdam (Institute of Environmental Science and Geography)
• GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (Section Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics; Section Hydrology)
• Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
• Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy
• BOKU University (Soil Physics and Rural Water Management), Austria
• Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB)

Short Summary

The Potsdam Soil Moisture Observatory (PoSMO) provides a comprehensive two-year dataset from 16 permanent stations to monitor soil moisture at the kilometer scale. The study integrates Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS) with multi-scale environmental data to create a high-coverage reference for hydrological research.

Objective

• To establish a high-coverage reference observation network at the kilometer scale for advancing Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS) methodology and hydrological process understanding.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Kilometer scale (regional network in the Potsdam area, Germany, consisting of 16 permanent monitoring stations).
• Temporal Scale: Two-year continuous record (with planned extension to three years), capturing diverse conditions including droughts, heavy rainfall, and snow cover.

Methodology and Data

• Models and Methods: Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS), Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), and imaging spectroscopy.
• Data sources:
  • 16 stationary CRNS sensors and co-located soil water profile probes.
  • Shallow point-scale soil moisture sensors.
  • Meteorological stations and groundwater wells.
  • Remote sensing: Airborne LiDAR (terrain and surface models) and hyperspectral imagery.
  • Field measurements: Neutron spectrometer data, stable water isotopes, manual soil sampling (bulk density), and snow parameters (depth, density, areal cover).

Main Results

• Successful integration of 16 permanent stations providing high-density soil moisture data across a two-year period.
• Capture of extreme hydro-meteorological events, providing a robust dataset for validating CRNS signals under varying soil and weather conditions.
• Generation of high-resolution spatial data, including a 11.1 GB dataset comprising hyperspectral reflectance, airborne imagery, and LiDAR-derived digital elevation models.

Contributions

• Provides a unique, high-coverage reference dataset that bridges the gap between point-scale soil sensors and coarse-resolution satellite remote sensing.
• Offers a multi-methodological benchmark (combining nuclear physics, geophysics, and remote sensing) for the calibration and validation of soil moisture products at the kilometer scale.

Funding

• EOSC-hub project (Horizon 2020) under Grant number 777536.

Citation

@article{Grosse2025Potsdam,
  author = {Grosse, Peter Martin and Marret, Elodie and Scheiffele, Lena and Dimitrova Petrova, Katya and Francke, Till and Altdorff, Daniel and Heistermann, Maik and Schiel, Merlin and Neumann, Carsten and Scheffler, Daniel and Saberioon, Mehdi and Kunz, Matthias and Zboril, Miroslav and Marach, Jonas and Reginatto, Marcel and Balenzano, Anna and Rasche, Daniel and Stumpp, Christine and Trost, Benjamin and Oswald, Sascha E.},
  title = {The Potsdam Soil Moisture Observatory: High-coverage reference observations at kilometer scale},
  journal = {CDI B2Share},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.23728/b2share.bxamy-4zh85},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.23728/b2share.bxamy-4zh85}
}

Generated by BiblioAssistant using gemini-3-flash-preview (Google API)