A dataset of soil moisture content change in typical purple soil hilly areas in southwest China from 2009 to 2018

Soil water is the main carrier of particle, colloid and substance transport in farmland ecosystem. Besides, it is also a key factor for material exchange and energy transfer in soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, and has important influence on physiological growth characteristics and ecosystem service function of crops. Yanting Station, representing the farmland ecosystem in purple soil hilly area of Sichuan Basin in the middle subtropical zone, is the only national scientific observation and research station of farmland ecosystem in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Which Located in the transitional zone of the second and third steps of China's terrain, at the forefront of the ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Therefore, it has special ecological sensitivity. This dataset includes the data of different depth soil’s mass moisture content and volume moisture content in two long-term monitoring sample plots (grassland, cultivated land) at Yanting Station from 2009 to 2018. Long-term monitoring data can help to study the eco-hydrological processes of farmland ecosystems, water balance and material cycle regulation, in typical hilly areas. Furtherly, long-term monitoring dataset can help revealing the sensitivity of soil water cycle to global climate change.