A New International Network for in Situ Soil Moisture Data
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News: Ocean Drilling Science Plan Set for Release, p. 143 News: EGU Sessions Examine the Tohoku Earthquake, p. 143 Forum: Water Resources for the Future, p. 144 Meeting: Arctic Ecosystem Experiments, p. 145 Meeting: Spaceborne Gravity Measurements and Ocean Studies, p. 145 Research Spotlight: Heat Flux, Ash Clouds and Aviation, and More, p. 148 VOLUME 92 NUMBER 17 26 APRIL 2011 A New International Network Multidisciplinary Collaborations for in Situ Soil Moisture Data in Mid-Ocean Ridge Research The International Soil Moisture Network platform—in support of calibration and vali- The global mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is one heat fluxes, melt extraction, magmatism (ISMN) is a new data-hosting center where dation of SMOS products, an integrative sys- of Earth’s most fundamental geologic struc- and ridge morphology, system responses globally available ground-based soil mois- tem was needed to host quality- controlled tures. Active volcanic, tectonic, hydrother- to tectonic/volcanic events, and cross-topic ture measurements are collected, harmo- and harmonized soil moisture measure- mal, and biological processes occurring at groups on emerging seafloor technologies nized, and made available to users through a ments emerging from various ground valida- the MOR affect nearly every attribute of the and paradigms for expanding education and Web interface (http://www.ipf.tuwien.ac.at/ tion campaigns and operational networks. world’s oceans and oceanic crust. For the outreach (see http://ridge2000 . marine-geo insitu). As the first international initiative of Consequently, ESA provided the financial past quarter century the overarching goal .org/ for a full list of working group titles). its kind, the ISMN will play a crucial role in support for the development of this platform, of the U.S. National Science Foundation These topical, cross-disciplinary working globally assessing the quality of soil mois- which became ISMN. (NSF)–funded multidisciplinary Ridge 2000 groups focus research efforts by highlight- ture estimates from spaceborne microwave The network itself is managed at the program (http://www . ridge2000.org/) and its ing points of intersection between the data sensors and land surface models; in uncov- Vienna University of Technology. The first predecessor, Ridge Interdisciplinary Global and models of different disciplines. This ering how the hydrological cycle integrates phase of ISMN has been completed—it Experiments (RIDGE), here collectively approach was adapted from other success- with land, the atmosphere, and the ocean; involved designing and implementing the called “R2K,” has been to use observations, ful implementations of the working group and in studying climate change. The ISMN system and ingesting the first data sets. The experiments, and models to answer funda- paradigm (e.g., http://www .nceas .ucsb is fully operational and currently hosts soil second phase, which began in January 2011, mental questions about oceanic spreading .edu/ and http://www . nescent.org/). In the moisture data from more than 500 stations entails the implementation of an improved center processes. R2K case, individuals self-selected to join spanning 18 different networks. For scientific quality control system, inclusion of addi- Since its inception, R2K has worked to groups. Topics were developed by the pro- use, access to the data is free of charge. tional networks, and the development of a develop a holistic understanding of MORs. gram leadership roughly 4 months before plan that works toward full automation and There are multiple interrelated conse- an NSF-funded community meeting in Port- Overcoming Obstacles Through ISMN near–real time ingestion of data sets. Sub- quences of oceanic crust generation at land, Oreg. (29–31 October 2010), attended sequent phases will likely involve transfer- MORs, including transfer of material and by 140 participants. These groups, consist- Soil moisture observations provide the ring the whole system to a fully operational energy from the mantle to the crust and ing of 10–20 members, collaborated before link between terrestrial water, energy, and organization. ocean; impacts on marine ecology; and and during the meeting and will continue carbon cycles. Further, soil moisture deter- temporal, spatial, and rate-dependent inter- to work toward high-profile publications mines how precipitation is partitioned into Data Management actions between biological and geologi- on topics (e.g., see Figure 1) and data sets infiltration and runoff Dirmeyer[ et al., 2006]. cal processes. Consequently, a diverse yet within their focus areas. Hence, it is fundamental in streamflow fore- Input to ISMN is provided on a voluntary tightly knit community of collaborating sci- Group activities are governed by opera- casting [Koster et al., 2010] and in determin- basis by locally and regionally operating net- entists, including geologists, chemists, geo- tional and ethical protocols formulated by ing water and energy budgets. The impor- works—any network is encouraged to join. physical modelers, microbiologists, and program leaders in accordance with col- tance of soil moisture in the global climate Currently, data from 18 historical and opera- oceanographers, has developed under R2K laboration and publication norms in the system has recently been underlined by the tional networks in North America, Europe, programs. This research community has physical and biological sciences (http:// Global Climate Observing System (a joint Asia, and Australia are hosted by ISMN (Fig- spanned multiple generations of investiga- ridge2000.marine -geo .org/ community -meet - undertaking of the World Meteorological ure 1), while several other networks have tive effort, requiring it to confront transfor- ings/october -2010/ working -group - protocols). Organization, the United Nations, and the announced plans to participate in the near mations in communications technology, Members were drawn from multiple disci- International Council for Science), which in future. The Global Soil Moisture Data Bank tools for use and access of data, and atti- plines and seniority levels and are commit- 2010 endorsed soil moisture as an “essential [see Robock et al., 2000], which until the tudes about cooperative approaches to sci- ted to communicating, learning from each climate variable.” launch of the ISMN was the only significant entific discovery. The tools and approaches other, and developing a shared vision for Although several local and regional mete- effort to centralize soil moisture measure- R2K has used to enhance cross-disciplin- their objectives and published products. orological and hydrological networks rou- ments from various ground-based networks, ary understanding of complex problems A benefit of such an approach is that addi- tinely measure soil moisture, globally the has merged its data collection with the ISMN are adaptable to other multidisciplinary tional collaborations are expected to be number of long-term ground-based moni- and has now closed. research efforts. born of this process, and new ideas for the toring networks is still small and largely Data streams in on various time scales: next decades of oceanic spreading cen- restricted to midlatitude regions. Moreover, Some networks post data in near real time, A Systems Approach ter research will spring from the synthesis the lack of standard measurement tech- while others share them only after they effort. niques and protocols complicates the use are published in a peer-reviewed journal. A key strategy recently adopted by the of network data. As a result, there are many Incoming soil moisture measurements are R2K community is a systems approach to Embracing New Technologies differences between measurement depths, checked for consistency and quality and knowledge compilation and hypothesis for- units of soil moisture, sampling interval, and converted into a common volumetric unit of mulation. The program established topically By embracing a combination of new elec- precision. Also, the fact that the various data measurement. and geographically focused working groups tronic tools for remote communication and sets are managed by a large number of orga- A graphical user interface allows the to investigate various ridge processes and through new paradigms for compiling and nizations means that global studies incorpo- user to search, for example, by geographi- structural elements of ridge environments, understanding shared knowledge (e.g., rating ground-based soil moisture measure- cal extent or time period and visualize the thereby stimulating discussion and synthe- wikis, databases, and social software, as in ments are tedious to perform. selected data. After selection of specific sis of results on program-relevant topics. Figure 1), R2K researchers have been able to To overcome these issues, the Global records, the data sets are prepared for down- Group topics include controls on hydrother- Energy and Water Cycle Experiment load according to prevailing standards for mal biogeochemistry, vent chemistry and Mid-Ocean Ridge cont. on page 142 (GEWEX) of the World Climate Research data and metadata, as established by WCRP/ Programme (WCRP), with the continued GEWEX. support of the Group on Earth Observa- Although initially set up to support the tions (GEO) and Committee on Earth Obser- SMOS mission, other current and upcoming vation Satellites (CEOS), envisioned and satellite soil moisture missions will be sup- began developing an integrative platform for ported by the established network because