Daily soil moisture maps for the UK (2016-2023) at 2 km resolution
The data consist of daily maps of volumetric soil moisture predicted by a model based on a network of cosmic-ray neutron sensors (COSMOS-UK), the National River Flow Archive (NRFA) and remotely-sensed data. Maps cover the UK and Ireland at 2 km resolution in the Ordnance Survey National Grid (OSGB) projection. Maps are produced in near-real time, lagging by about one week. Data are available from early 2016 to 2023, on a daily basis. The model was calibrated on a network of cosmic-ray neutron sensors (COSMOS-UK) and remotely-sensed soil moisture data. A key parameter was estimated from the national-scale spatial pattern in the catchment response to rainfall seen in the National River Flow Archive (NRFA) data. Precipitation and humidity data to drive the model came from the Met Office High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction model (NWP-UKV) which incorporates the C-band rainfall radar network. The maps have a variety of uses in hydrology and elsewhere, for example as inputs to ecosystem models of greenhouse gas exchange, where soil moisture affects numerous processes. The modelling was carried out as part of UK-SCAPE Virtual Survey Lab, and the NERC project "Detection and Attribution of Regional Emissions (DARE-UK)". There are some gaps in the time series of meteorological and remote sensing inputs, and data are unavailable for these days. The NRFA data are only available for Great Britain, so estimates in Ireland and continental Europe will be less accurate. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/5aa8c5b4-4485-4954-b5c3-18d937a418f7
dataset
https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/data/5aa8c5b4-4485-4954-b5c3-18d937a418f7
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function: download
https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/5aa8c5b4-4485-4954-b5c3-18d937a418f7.zip
name: Supporting information
description: Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset
function: information
https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/5aa8c5b4-4485-4954-b5c3-18d937a418f7
doi:
eng
environment
Soil
publication
2008-06-01
creation
2019-01-28
soil water retention curves
rainfall
rainfall radar
hydrological modelling
NRFA
ASCAT
SCAT-SAR
soil water retention curves
rainfall
rainfall radar
hydrological modelling
NRFA
ASCAT
SCAT-SAR
UK
-8.648
1.768
60.861
49.864
2016-01-01
2023-12-31
publication
2024-05-08
We developed a statistical model of soil moisture, calibrated on a network of cosmic-ray neutron sensors in the UK. We found that applying an exponentially-weighted moving-average filter effectively linearised the effect of precipitation, so we could form a simple linear model. With this, we integrated remotely-sensed soil moisture data. To extrapolate across the whole country, we inferred information on the soil water retention properties from daily water balance data from approximately 1200 catchments with wide coverage. We used a Bayesian approach to allow the uncertainty from the calibration at 40 sites to be propagated through the extrapolation on a grid covering the whole UK. The Met Office High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction model (NWP-UKV), which incorporates the C-band rainfall radar network, provides very detailed data on the variation in precipitation which arises from the sporadic nature of rainfall events and interactions with orography in near-real time, to predict small-scale, short-term variation in soil moisture.
publication
2010-12-08
TIFF
If you reuse this data, you should cite: Levy, P.E. (2024). Daily soil moisture maps for the UK (2016-2023) at 2 km resolution. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/5aa8c5b4-4485-4954-b5c3-18d937a418f7
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8505-1901
name: ORCID record
description: ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers.
function: information
author
custodian
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8505-1901
name: ORCID record
description: ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-driven effort to create and maintain a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities and outputs to these identifiers.
function: information
pointOfContact
publisher
owner
Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg
Lancaster
LA1 4AP
UK
name: EIDC website
description: The Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC) is the UK's national data centre for terrestrial and freshwater sciences.
function: information
pointOfContact
2025-05-30T13:08:00