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Title:   Author  item
                                            OCHSNER, T - Oklahoma State Universityitem
                                            Cosh, Michaelitem
                                            CUENCA, R - Oregon State Universityitem
                                            DORIGO, W - Vienna University Of Technologyitem
                                            DRAPER, C - National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA)item
                                            HAGIMOTO, Y - Oregon State Universityitem
                                            KERR, Y - Collaboratoritem
                                            LARSON, K - University Of Coloradoitem
                                            NJOKU, E - Jet Propulsion Laboratoryitem
                                            SMALL, E - University Of Coloradoitem
                                            ZREDA, M - University Of Arizona
  Submitted to: Soil Science Society of America Journal
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 10/21/2013
                                    Publication  Date: 11/1/2013
                                    Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/59839Citation: Ochsner, T., Cosh, M.H., Cuenca, R., Dorigo, W.A., Draper, C., Hagimoto, Y., Kerr, Y., Larson, K., Njoku, E., Small, E., Zreda, M. 2013. State of the art in large-scale soil moisture monitoring. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 77(6):1888-1919.Interpretive Summary: Soil moisture at the surface is essential to the understanding of the land atmosphere interface, yet it is difficult to directly measure it on a large scale.  The monitoring of soil moisture has reached new heights recently with the launch of several satellite platforms, which have as their central purpose, the estimation of surface soil moisture.  There are also several new measurement technologies, which have begun deployment to estimate soil moisture on a large scale.  These technologies add to the more traditional methods of monitoring, such as national soil moisture and climate networks.  This review will examine each of the current and new technologies used for estimating soil moisture and compare their advantages and disadvantages.  This will provide an opportunity for the diverse communities, which use these technologies to discuss their theoretical approaches to soil moisture estimation and to find commonalities.  Each of these communities will be able to improve their own methods, by expanding their base of knowledge.
                                Technical Abstract: Soil moisture is an essential climate variable influencing land-atmosphere interactions, an essential hydrologic variable impacting rainfall-runoff processes, an essential ecological variable regulating net ecosystem exchange, and an essential agricultural variable constraining food security.  Large-scale soil moisture monitoring has advanced in recent years creating opportunities to transform scientific understanding of soil moisture and related processes.  These advances are being driven by researchers from a broad range of disciplines, but this complicates collaboration and communication.  And, for some applications, the science required to utilize large-scale soil moisture data is poorly developed.  In this review, we describe the state of the art in large-scale soil moisture monitoring and identify some critical needs for research to optimize the use of increasingly available soil moisture data.  We review representative examples of 1) emerging in situ and proximal sensing techniques, 2) dedicated soil moisture remote sensing missions, 3) soil moisture monitoring networks, and 4)applications of large-scale soil moisture measurements.  Significant near-term progress seems possible in the use of large-scale soil moisture data for drought monitoring.  Assimilation of soil moisture data for meteorological or hydrologic forecasting also shows promise, but significant challenges related to spatial variability and model structures remain.  Little progress has been made in the use of large-scale soil moisture observations within the context of ecological or agricultural modeling.  Opportunities abound to advance the science and practice of large-scale soil moisture monitoring for the sake of improved Earth system monitoring, modeling, and forecasting.


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