Soil Moisture Observations for Flash Flood Research and Prediction

Abstract

Soil moisture is an important contributor to many hydrologic and meteorologic processes. For example, the exchange of water mass and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere is directly influenced by soil moisture conditions (Betts and Ball [6]). Furthermore, existing soil moisture conditions influence surface processes such as infiltration and runoff. Thus, the characterization of soil moisture over a variety of spatial and temporal domains is a key issue in determining the movement of water within the land-atmosphere continuum.