Soil moisture and temperature surveys for Saddle Stream Network, 2017

Surface soil moisture and temperature reflect patterns in snowmelt and hydrologic connectivity in alpine ecosystems. In the summer of 2017, surface soil moisture and temperature were measured on eight surveys at 84 locations in the Niwot Ridge Saddle Stream catchment. The eight surveys were July 3, 2017 – September 9, 2017. Overall, soil moisture showed the influence of snowmelt early in the season and equilibration of soil moisture during the summer monsoon. Seasonal patterns in soil temperature were opposite that of soil moisture in that temperatures increased until the summer monsoon, which cooled surface soils temporarily. Soil moisture was highly variable between locations in that some locations remained consistently dry, while others remained consistently wet. Still others experienced an order of magnitude of variation in soil moisture over the course of the season. These data are useful for validating hydrologic models and remotely sensed thermal and moisture properties, informing growing season plant phenology, and understanding hydrologic connectivity in alpine ecosystems.表层土壤湿度与温度可反映高山生态系统中的融雪模式及水文连通性特征。2017年夏季，研究团队在尼沃特岭（Niwot Ridge）鞍溪流域的84个采样点开展了8次野外调查，对表层土壤湿度与温度进行了测定。这8次调查的时间跨度为2017年7月3日至2017年9月9日。整体而言，土壤湿度在季初表现出融雪过程的影响，并在夏季季风期趋于均衡。土壤温度的季节变化模式与土壤湿度恰好相反：其温度会持续升高，直至夏季季风来临，此时表层土壤会暂时降温。不同采样点间的土壤湿度差异显著，部分点位始终处于干燥状态，部分则长期保持湿润；另有部分点位的土壤湿度在整个观测季内出现了一个数量级的波动。本数据集可用于验证水文模型与遥感反演的热特性及湿度参数，为植物生长季物候研究提供支撑，并助力解析高山生态系统的水文连通性机制。