Diagnosing Product Variability in the Soil Moisture Response to Precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Meng X. , Deng M. , Talib J. , Taylor C. M. , Wu P. , Lyu S. , Chen H. , Li Z. , Zhao L. 
Published: January 2023

Previous studies show that some soil moisture products have a good agreement with in situ measurements on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the soil moisture response to precipitation variability in different products is yet to be assessed. In this study, we focus on the soil moisture response to precipitation variability across weekly to decadal time scales in satellite observations and reanalyses. The response of soil moisture to precipitation variability differs between products, with large uncertainties observed for variations in weekly accumulated precipitation. Using June 2009 as an example, weekly mean anomalous soil moisture varies by up to 25% between products. Across decadal time scales, soil moisture trends vary spatially and across different products. In light of the soil moisture response to precipitation at different time scales, we conclude that remote sensing products developed as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Water Cycle Multimission Observation Strategy and Soil Moisture Climate Change Initiative (CCI) projects are the most reliable, followed by the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) dataset. Even products that strongly agree with in situ observations on daily time scales, such as the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), show inconsistent soil moisture responses to decadal precipitation trends. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECWMF) reanalysis products have a relatively poor agreement with in situ observations compared to satellite observations and land-only reanalysis datasets. Unsurprisingly, products which show a consistent soil moisture response to precipitation variability are those mostly aligned to observations or describe the physical relationship between soil moisture and precipitation well.

Significance Statement

We focus on soil moisture responses to precipitation across weekly to decadal time scales by using multiple satellite observations and reanalysis products. Several soil moisture products illustrate good consistency with in situ measurements in different biomes on the Tibetan Plateau, while the response to precipitation variability differs between products, with large uncertainties observed for variations in weekly accumulated precipitation. The response of soil moisture to decadal trends in boreal summer precipitation varies spatially and temporally across products. Based on the assessments of the soil moisture response to precipitation variability across different time scales, we conclude that remote sensing products developed as part of the European Space Agency’s Water Cycle Multimission Observation Strategy and Soil Moisture Climate Change Initiative (CCI) projects are the most reliable, followed by the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) dataset. Reanalysis products from ECWMF show inconsistent soil moisture responses to precipitation. The results highlight the importance of using multiple soil moisture products to understand the surface response to precipitation variability and to inform developments in soil moisture modeling and satellite retrievals.