Benchmark data of root zone soil moisture over the conterminous USA based on vegetation-specific rooting depths

A newly developed benchmark dataset of root zone soil moisture (RZSM) at daily temporal resolution across the conterminous United States (CONUS) is presented. The dataset is compiled from in situ observations at 2,012 sites spanning 35 monitoring and data-aggregation networks and provides RZSM estimates for both a conventional fixed rooting depth (100 cm) and vegetation-specific rooting depths (D75, D90, and D95), corresponding to 75%, 90%, and 95% of cumulative root biomass, respectively. The data files are provided in CSV format. Each file contains seven columns: Date, Latitude, Longitude, vegetation type based on NLCD (VegetationType_NLCD), depth-averaged RZSM (DepthAvg_RZSM), soil moisture network name (Network), and site name (Site). The data files can be accessed using most text editors and spreadsheet software. Files corresponding to RZSM for D75, D90, D95, and the 100-cm depth are stored in folders named D75, D90, D95, and 100cm, respectively. All of these folders are contained within the main archive, RZSM_Data1.zip. Other than the RZSM data, the codes for the related analyses are contained in the folder Files_to_zenodo.zip. Two key scripts are included: (1) parameter_optimization_depthdecay_eq.ipynb, a Python notebook used for parameter optimization of the depth-decay equation, and (2) Depth_averaging.R, an R script used to perform depth-averaged soil moisture calculations to derive RZSM for D75, D90, and D95. The remaining plots and analyses presented in the paper involve general data analysis and visualization performed using R and Python are not included in the folder.本文提出一套全新开发的基准数据集，该数据集覆盖美国本土（conterminous United States, CONUS）全域，提供日时间分辨率的根区土壤湿度（root zone soil moisture, RZSM）数据。该数据集整合自覆盖35个监测与数据聚合网络的2012个原位观测站点，可提供两类根深对应的根区土壤湿度估算值：一类为常规固定根深（100厘米），另一类为植被特异性根深D75、D90与D95，三者分别对应累积根系生物量的75%、90%与95%。 数据集文件以逗号分隔值（Comma-Separated Values, CSV）格式存储。每份数据文件包含7个字段：日期（Date）、纬度（Latitude）、经度（Longitude）、基于美国国家土地覆盖数据库（National Land Cover Database, NLCD）的植被类型（VegetationType_NLCD）、深度平均根区土壤湿度（DepthAvg_RZSM）、土壤湿度网络名称（Network）以及站点名称（Site）。多数文本编辑器与电子表格软件均可读取此类文件。对应D75、D90、D95及100厘米根深的根区土壤湿度数据文件，分别存储于命名为D75、D90、D95与100cm的文件夹中，所有文件夹均收纳于主压缩包RZSM_Data1.zip内。 除根区土壤湿度数据外，相关分析代码收纳于Files_to_zenodo.zip压缩包中。该压缩包内含两个核心脚本：其一为parameter_optimization_depthdecay_eq.ipynb，即用于深度衰减方程参数优化的Python交互式笔记本；其二为Depth_averaging.R，即用于执行深度平均土壤湿度计算以推导D75、D90、D95对应根区土壤湿度的R脚本。本文中其余图表与分析均基于R与Python完成的通用数据分析与可视化操作，未收纳于此压缩包内。