U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            SCHAEFER, G - USDA NRCSitem
                                            Cosh, Michaelitem
                                            Jackson, Thomas
  Submitted to: Journal of Atmospheric and Ocean Technology
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2007
                                    Publication  Date: 12/1/2007
                                    Citation: Schaefer, G., Cosh, M., Jackson, T. 2007. The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Soil Analysis Network (SCAN). Journal of Atmospheric and Ocean Technology. 24:2073-2077.Interpretive Summary: Surface soil moisture plays an important role in the dynamics of land atmosphere interactions and many current and upcoming models and satellite sensors.  Actual ground measurements will be required to prove the accuracy of the satellite data.  Therefore, there is a need for sensor networks to provide near real-time soil moisture and temperature data combined with other climate information for use in natural resource planning, drought assessment, water resource management, and resource inventory.  The USDA-NRCS-National Water and Climate Center has established a nationwide scale network to address this need, called the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN).  This ever-growing network has more than 116 stations located in 39 states, of which most have been installed since 1999. The stations are remotely located and collect hourly atmospheric, soil moisture, and soil temperature data that are available to the public online near real time.
                                Technical Abstract: Surface soil moisture plays an important role in the dynamics of land atmosphere interactions and many current and upcoming models and satellite sensors.  In situ data will be required to provide calibration and validation data sets.  Therefore, there is a need for sensor networks at a variety of scales that provide near real-time soil moisture and temperature data combined with other climate information for use in natural resource planning, drought assessment, water resource management, and resource inventory.  The USDA-NRCS-National Water and Climate Center has established a continental scale network to address this need, called the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN).  This ever-growing network has more than 116 stations located in 39 states, of which most have been installed since 1999. The stations are remotely located and collect hourly atmospheric, soil moisture, and soil temperature data that are available to the public online near real time.  New stations are located on benchmark soils when possible.  Future plans for the network include increasing the number of stations, improving on user-friendly data summaries, increasing data quality and scaling the stations to the surrounding region.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov