Soil Moisture and Soil Temperature dataset (2017 - 2023)

This dataset compiles all available soil moisture and soil temperature measurements collected in the Vallon de Nant. The data were contributed by multiple researchers and have undergone a standardized cleaning process. Detailed information about the data and station locations is provided in the accompanying Station_metadata and READ ME.

The dataset was compiled as part of a Master’s thesis: Drying Signals: What Soil Moisture reveals about Evaporation in the Vallon de Nant (VD, Swiss Alps) (Meret Weh, 2025).

READ ME – Soil Moisture and Soil Temperature Data

Files:

1)      Station Metadata:

Data Source: research project that collected the data

Location: Rough labelling  of the sensor location (Auberge, Chalet, Glacier, Chaux, Nant)

Station Nr.: Reference number of the station, used on climaps

Longitude/Latitude: LV03 and WGS84 coordinates

Elevation: m a.s.l

Sensor Depth: cm

2)      Soil_moisture_cleaned_hourly.csv

Starts: 15.03.2017 – 00:00

Ends: 14.09.2023 – 12:00

Time step: 1 hour

Units: VWC %

Colums (25): Date, Time, sensors1, sensor2,…

3)      Soil_temperature_cleaned_hourly.csv

Starts: 15.03.2017 – 12:00

Ends: 14.09.2023 – 12:00

Time step: 1 hour

Units: °C

Colums (21): Date, Time, sensors1, sensor2,…

Sensor labelling: Location_depth_source (example: auberge_5_M)

M = Michelon

E = Eeckman

vR = von Roten

C = Ceperley

Notes: 

Missing data indicated with NA

chalet_5_M: records in 2020 very suspicious data that was not removed in this dataset but should be looked at carefully in future studies. 

Data cleaning

Soil moisture:

1. Checking geophysical range: value had to be between 0 and 60 VWC

2. Spike removal: values where removed that differed significantly from neighbouring values

3. Visual inspection: removal of constant values or jumps or unplausible behaviour

Soil temperature:

1. Checking geophysical range: value had to be between -30 and 50  °C

2. Spike removal: values where removed that differed significantly from neighbouring values (sliding window approach)

3. Visual inspection: removal of constant values or jumps or unplausible behaviour