SOIL MOISTURE
Soil moisture is the water stored in the pores of soil, serving as a vital component of the hydrological cycle. It plays a critical role in influencing plant growth, weather, and climate systems. Soil moisture is typically classified into two main categories:
- Surface Soil Moisture (SSM): Water in the top few centimeters of soil, crucial for evaporation and weather interactions.
- Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM): Water available in the deeper soil layers, essential for plant uptake and long-term vegetation health.
AVAILABLE PRODUCTS
Surface Soil Moisture (SSM)
products are generated using backscatter observations from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) on-board the Metop satellite series. These products are derived using a semi-empirical change detection method, providing SSM expressed as the degree of saturation (0–100%) for the topsoil layer (< 5 cm). SSM products are available in multiple formats (netCDF, BUFR) and provided as Near Real Time (NRT), Data Record (DR), and Interim DR (IDR) datasets.
Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM)
The root-zone soil moisture products are global gridded fields over the soil profile, represented by four vertical layers (0-7 cm, 7-28 cm, 28-100 cm and 100-289 cm depth). A dedicated land data assimilation system assimilates scatterometer-derived soil moisture into the ecLand model. The resulting soil moisture analysis is produced daily at 00 UTC.
LIST OF OPERATIONAL SOIL MOISTURE PRODUCTS
Near real time products
| Product |
Product name |
Status |
Parameter |
available in (hours) |
| RZSM-ASCAT-NRT-10 |
H26 |
Metop ASCAT NRT Root Zone Soil
Moisture Profile Index 10km
resolution |
operational |
Surface soil moisture |
12 |
|
| SM-DAS-2 |
H14 |
Soil Wetness Profile Index in the roots
region retrieved by Metop ASCAT
surface wetness scatterometer
assimilation method |
operational |
Root Zone soil moisture |
12 |
|
| ASCAT SSM NRT 6.25 km |
H122 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture
NRT 6.25 km sampling |
operational |
Surface soil moisture |
|
|
| ASCAT-DIS-SSM-NRT |
H28 |
Disaggregated Metop ASCAT NRT
SSM (Version 2) |
operational |
Surface soil moisture |
|
|
| ASCAT SSM NRT 12.5 km v2 |
H29 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture
Near Real-Time 12.5 km sampling V2 |
operational |
Surface soil moisture |
|
|
Data Record and Interim Data Record Products
| Product |
Product name |
Status |
Parameter |
| ASCAT SSM CDR v7 12.5 km |
H119 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil
Moisture Climate Data Record v6
12.5 km sampling |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|
| ASCAT SSM CDR v7 EXT 12.5 km |
H120 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture
Climate Data Record v6 Extension
12.5 km sampling |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|
| RZSM-DR2019-10 |
H141 |
Scatterometer Root Zone Soil
Moisture (RZSM) Climate Data
Record 10km resolution, based on
ERS/SCAT, and Metop ASCAT
assimilation, at 10km resolution, for
1992-2018 |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|
| RZSM-DR-EXT-10km |
H142 |
Scatterometer Root Zone Soil
Moisture (RZSM) Data Record 2019
extension, 10km resolution |
released |
Root Zone soil moisture |
|
| ASCAT SSM CDR v8 12.5 km |
H121 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture
Climate Data Record v7 12.5 km
sampling |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|
| ASCAT SSM CDR v1 6.25 km |
H129 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture
Data Record v1 6.25 km sampling |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|
| ASCAT SSM CDR v1 EXT 6.25 km |
H130 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture Data Record v1 Extension 6.25 km sampling |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|
| ASCAT SSM CDR v8 EXT 12.5 km |
H139 |
Metop ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture Climate Data Record v8 Extension 12.5 km sampling CDR-EXT |
released |
Surface soil moisture |
|