Changes of Soil Moisture from Multiple Sources during 1988–2010 in the Yellow River Basin, China

Abstract

Soil moisture is a key variable in terrestrial water cycle, playing a key role in the exchange of water and energy in the landatmosphere interface. The spatiotemporal variations of soil moisture from multiple sources during 1988-2010 are evaluated against in situ observations in the Yellow River basin, China, including the Essential Climate Variable satellite's passive microwave product (SM ECV ), ERA-Interim reanalysis (SM ERA ), the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/Department of Energy's Reanalysis-2 (SM NCEP ), and the Variable Infiltration Capacity model products (SM VIC ). The seasonal soil moisture dynamics of SM ECV and SM VIC appear to be consistent with SM in situ , with significant soil drying in spring and wetting in summer. SM ERA and SM NCEP , however, fail to capture the soil drying before rainy seasons. Remarkably, SM ECV shows large agreement with SM in situ in terms of the interannual variations and the long-term drying trends. SM VIC captures the interannual variations but fails to have the longterm trends in SM in situ . As for SM ERA and SM NCEP , they fail to capture both the interannual variations and the long-term soil drying trends in SM in situ .

An Evaluation of Soil Moisture Anomalies from Global Model-Based Datasets over the People’s Republic of China

“…Some earlier studies have reported on the strengths and weaknesses of various reanalysis and model-based soil moisture products over some regions in China [29,36,40,41]. These studies demonstrated the potential of these products to serve as reliable sources of long-term soil moisture variability and their potential applications in research and operational services due to their consistency in space and time.…”

Comprehensive Error Analysis of CLDAS Soil Moisture Over Arid and Semiarid Regions

“…Based on the present findings, CLDAS SM data were regarded appropriate for China's arid and semiarid zones. Previous studies have described the advantages and disadvantages of different reanalysis and modelbased SM products for some regions of China [76], [77], [78], [79].…”