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.wws9j-gve95

Research Groups

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

Short Summary

The Potsdam Soil Moisture Observatory (PoSMO) provides a high-coverage, multi-sensor dataset at the kilometer scale to support hydrological research. The study integrates cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) with in-situ probes and remote sensing to capture soil moisture dynamics across diverse hydro-meteorological conditions.

Objective

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

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Kilometer scale ($10^3$ m), centered around Potsdam, Germany, featuring 16 permanent monitoring stations.
• Temporal Scale: A continuous two-year record (with planned extension to three years), capturing seasonal variations including droughts, heavy rainfall, and snow cover.

Methodology and Data

• Models and Sensors used: 16 stationary Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensors (CRNS), Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR) soil water profile probes, shallow point-scale soil moisture sensors, and neutron spectrometers.
• Geophysical and Remote Sensing Data: Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) transects, airborne LiDAR (for digital terrain and surface models), and airborne hyperspectral imagery (imaging spectroscopy).
• Supplementary Data: Meteorological station data, groundwater level monitoring (two wells), stable water isotopes, manual soil sampling (bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity), and snow parameters (depth, density, and areal cover).

Main Results

• Successful integration of 16 CRNS stations providing intermediate-scale soil moisture estimates co-located with point-scale sensors.
• Documentation of a wide range of hydro-meteorological states, specifically capturing the transition between extreme drought and heavy precipitation events.
• Generation of a comprehensive 11.1 GB dataset (part of a larger 173.5 GB repository) including high-resolution topography and surface reflectance data.

Contributions

• Provides a unique, high-density spatial reference for soil moisture at the "mesoscale," bridging the gap between point-scale measurements and coarse-resolution satellite products.
• Offers a multi-methodological validation set for CRNS, incorporating rare datasets like muon counts and neutron spectra.
• Facilitates the development of scaling and transfer functions for soil moisture by combining ground-based sensors with hyperspectral and LiDAR remote sensing.

Funding

• EOSC-hub project: Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 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.wws9j-gve95},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.23728/b2share.wws9j-gve95}
}

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