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NASA NTRS1983

The effects of vegetation and soil hydraulic properties on passive microwave sensing of soil moisture: Data report for the 1982 fiels experiments

Field experiments to (1) study the biomass and geometrical structure properties of vegetation canopies to determine their impact on microwave emission data, and (2) to verify whether time series microwave data can be related to soil hydrologic properties for use in soil type classification. Truck mounted radiometers at 1.4 GHz and 5 GHz were used to obtain microwave brightness temperatures of bare vegetated test plots under different conditions of soil wetness, plant water content and canopy structure. Observations of soil moisture, soil temperature, vegetation biomass and other soil and canopy parameters were made concurrently with the microwave measurements. The experimental design and data collection procedures for both experiments are documented and the reduced data are presented in tabular form.

Oneill, P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Mixing levels, the Apennine Front soil component, and compositional trends in the Apollo 15 soils

New compositional data (by INAA) for 29 samples of Apollo 15 soil fractions are presented along with data for six depth intervals of the bottom half of the double drive tube at station 2 on the Apennine Front. The compositional trends in the Apollo 15 soils are discussed in terms of four techniques used to determine the important components of the regolith: graphical techniques, factor analysis, chemical analysis of individual soil particles, and mixing models. The concept of 'mixing levels' is introduced, which states that a sample of lunar regolith can be considered as a mixture on several different compositional levels (I, igneous rock types; II, local rock types; III, soils), and it is shown that most attempts at modeling lunar soils as mixtures have been directed at level II. It is argued that only four components are required to account for the variation in concentrations of lithophile elements in the Apollo 15 samples: mare basalt, KREEP basalt, green glass, and Apennine front soil (best represented by the station 2 samples).

Korotev, Randy L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Global digital data sets of soil type, soil texture, surface slope and other properties: Documentation of archived data tape

The file structure and coding of four soils data sets derived from the Zobler (1986) world soil file is described. The data were digitized on a one-degree square grid. They are suitable for large-area studies such as climate research with general circulation models, as well as in forestry, agriculture, soils, and hydrology. The first file is a data set of codes for soil unit, land-ice, or water, for all the one-degree square cells on Earth. The second file is a data set of codes for texture, land-ice, or water, for the same soil units. The third file is a data set of codes for slope, land-ice, or water for the same units. The fourth file is the SOILWRLD data set, containing information on soil properties of land cells of both Matthews' and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sources. The fourth file reconciles land-classification differences between the two and has missing data filled in.

Staub, B.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Observed effects of soil organic matter content on the microwave intensity of soils

In order to determine the significance of organic matter content on the microwave emissivity of soils when estimating soil moisture, field experiments were conducted in which 1.4 GHz microwave emissivity data were collected over test plots of sandy loam soil with different organic matter levels (1.8, 4.0, and 6.1 percent) for a range of soil moisture values. Analyses of the observed data show only minor variation in microwave emissivity due to a change in organic matter content at a given moisture level for soils with similar texture and structure. Predictions of microwave emissivity made using a dielectric model for aggregated soils exhibit the same trends and type of response as the measured data when appropriate values for the input parameters were utilized.

Jackson, T. J.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Observed effects of soil organic matter content on the microwave emissivity of soils

O'Neill, P. E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Human impacts on soil carbon dynamics of deep-rooted Amazonian forests and effect of land use change on the carbon cycle in Amazon soils

The main objective of these NASA-funded projects is to improve our understanding of land-use impacts on soil carbon dynamics in the Amazon Basin. Soil contains approximately one half of tropical forest carbon stocks, yet the fate of this carbon following forest impoverishment is poorly studied. Our mechanistics approach draws on numerous techniques for measuring soil carbon outputs, inputs, and turnover time in the soils of adjacent forest and pasture ecosystems at our research site in Paragominas, state of Para, Brazil. We are scaling up from this site-specific work by analyzing Basin-wide patterns in rooting depth and rainfall seasonality, the two factors that we believe should explain much of the variation in tropical soil carbons dynamics. In this report, we summarize ongoing measurements at our Paragominas study site, progress in employing new field data to understand soil C dynamics, and some surprising results from our regional, scale-up work.

Nepstad, Daniel↗

NASA NTRS2016

Sampling for Soil Carbon Stock Assessment in Rocky Agricultural Soils

Coring methods commonly employed in soil organic C (SOC) stock assessment may not accurately capture soil rock fragment (RF) content or soil bulk density (rho (sub b)) in rocky agricultural soils, potentially biasing SOC stock estimates. Quantitative pits are considered less biased than coring methods but are invasive and often cost-prohibitive. We compared fixed-depth and mass-based estimates of SOC stocks (0.3-meters depth) for hammer, hydraulic push, and rotary coring methods relative to quantitative pits at four agricultural sites ranging in RF content from less than 0.01 to 0.24 cubic meters per cubic meter. Sampling costs were also compared. Coring methods significantly underestimated RF content at all rocky sites, but significant differences (p is less than 0.05) in SOC stocks between pits and corers were only found with the hammer method using the fixed-depth approach at the less than 0.01 cubic meters per cubic meter RF site (pit, 5.80 kilograms C per square meter; hammer, 4.74 kilograms C per square meter) and at the 0.14 cubic meters per cubic meter RF site (pit, 8.81 kilograms C per square meter; hammer, 6.71 kilograms C per square meter). The hammer corer also underestimated rho (sub b) at all sites as did the hydraulic push corer at the 0.21 cubic meters per cubic meter RF site. No significant differences in mass-based SOC stock estimates were observed between pits and corers. Our results indicate that (i) calculating SOC stocks on a mass basis can overcome biases in RF and rho (sub b) estimates introduced by sampling equipment and (ii) a quantitative pit is the optimal sampling method for establishing reference soil masses, followed by rotary and then hydraulic push corers.

hammer method↗

NASA NTRS1971

Performance of the Boeing LRV wheels in a lunar soil simulant. Report 2: Effects of speed, Wheel load, and soil

Two nearly identical Boeing-GM wire-mesh Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) wheels were laboratory tested in a lunar soil simulant to determine the influence of wheel speed and acceleration, wheel load, presence of a fender, travel direction, and soil strength on the wheel performance. Constant-slip and three types of programmed-slip tests were conducted with a single-wheel dynamometer system. Test results indicated that performance of single LRV wheels in terms of pull coefficient, power number, and efficiency were not influenced by wheel speed and acceleration, travel direction, the presence of a fender, or wheel load. Of these variables, only load influenced sinkage, which increased with increasing load. For a given slip, the pull coefficient and power number increased with increasing soil strength. However, for a given pull coefficient or slope, slip was less in firmer soil; thus, the power number decreased and efficiency increased with increasing soil strength.

Melzer, K.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Chemical composition of Luna 20 rocks and soil and Apollo 16 soils.

Review of the abundances of 24 major, minor, and trace elements measured by instrumental neutron activation analysis in Luna 20 metaigneous rocks, breccia, and soil, and in Apollo 16 soils. The similarities and differences observed are discussed. The bulk compositions of Luna 20 and Apollo 16 rocks and soils show close similarity between the two highland sites. Interelement correlations observed previously for maria are also found in highland samples. Luna 20 and Apollo 16 soils are low in alkalis. Both soils show an apparent Cd-Zn rich component similar to that observed at the mare sites and high Tl abundances relative to mare sites.

Laul, J. C.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Evaluation of gravimetric ground truth soil moisture data collected for the agricultural soil moisture experiment, 1978 Colby, Kansas, aircraft mission

Soil moisture data acquired to support the development of algorithms for estimating surface soil moisture from remotely sensed backscattering of microwaves from ground surfaces are presented. Aspects of field uniformity and variability of gravimetric soil moisture measurements are discussed. Moisture distribution patterns are illustrated by frequency distributions and contour plots. Standard deviations and coefficients of variation relative to degree of wetness and agronomic features of the fields are examined. Influence of sampling depth on observed moisture content an variability are indicated. For the various sets of measurements, soil moisture values that appear as outliers are flagged. The distribution and legal descriptions of the test fields are included along with examinations of soil types, agronomic features, and sampling plan. Bulk density data for experimental fields are appended, should analyses involving volumetric moisture content be of interest to the users of data in this report.

Arya, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Documentation for Program SOILSIM: A computer program for the simulation of heat and moisture flow in soils and between soils, canopy and atmosphere

SOILSIM, a digital model of energy and moisture fluxes in the soil and above the soil surface, is presented. It simulates the time evolution of soil temperature and moisture, temperature of the soil surface and plant canopy the above surface, and the fluxes of sensible and latent heat into the atmosphere in response to surface weather conditions. The model is driven by simple weather observations including wind speed, air temperature, air humidity, and incident radiation. The model intended to be useful in conjunction with remotely sensed information of the land surface state, such as surface brightness temperature and soil moisture, for computing wide area evapotranspiration.

Field, Richard T.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Consistency Between NASS Surveyed Soil Moisture Conditions and SMAP Soil Moisture Observations

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Survey (NASS) collects and publishes crop growth status and soil moisture conditions in major US agricultural regions. The operationally-produced weekly reports are based on survey information. The surveys are based on visual assessments and ? in the case of soil moisture ? report soil moisture levels in one of four categories (Very Short, Short, Adequate and Surplus). In this study, we show that these reports have remarkable correspondence with the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4SM) product. This consistency allows the combining the two distinct types of data to produce a value-added combination, which is mapped fields rather than State-by-State tables and it is refreshed daily rather than weekly. In this study classification thresholds are derived for L4SM by mapping cumulative distribution functions of L4SM surface and root-zone SM to the categorical NASS SM conditions. The results show that, year-over-year, the SMAP cumulative SM distributions are consistent with the NASS SM conditions and, furthermore, that the temporal evolution of the SMAP-derived thresholds is consistent with the seasonal crop growth cycles from year to year. The results signify that the SMAP SM retrievals are relatable to SM estimation conducted in agriculture by land managers and farmers, which underlines the general applicability of the SMAP data.

Andreas Colliander↗

NASA NTRS2020

Assessing the Impact of Soil Layer Depth Specification on the Observability of Modeled Soil Moisture and Brightness Temperature

The utility of hydrologic land surface models (LSMs) can be enhanced by using information from observational platforms, but mismatches between the two are common.This study assesses the degree to which model agreement with observations (observability) is affected by two mechanisms in particular: 1) physical incongruities between the support volumes being characterized and 2) inadequateor inconsistent parameterizations of physical processes. The Noah and Noah-MP LSMs by default characterize surface soil moisture (SSM) in the top 10 cm of the soil column. This depth may be reasonable when comparing against soil moisture from in situ probes centered at 5 cm,but it is notably different from the 5 cm (or less) sensing depth of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission. These depth inconsistencies are examined by using thinner model layers in the Noah and Noah-MP LSMs and comparing resultant simulations to in situ and SMAP soil moisture. In addition, a forward radiative transfer model to simulate microwave brightness temperatures (Tbs) is used to facilitate direct comparisons of LSM-based and SMAP-based L-band Tb retrievals. Observability is quantified using Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance values, calculated from empirical cumulative distribution functions of SSM and Tb time series. Experiment results depend on the particular subspace being analyzed (SSM or Tb). This study concludes that therole of increasedsoil layer discretizationon LSM observability is secondary to the influence of component parameterizations, the effects of which dominate systematic differences with observations

SMAP↗

NASA NTRS2024

Mechanical Testing of Soils from the South Range of the Utah Test and Training Range: Derivation of Soil Properties to Support the Earth Entry System Landing for Mars Sample Return

This report summarizes results from laboratory tests conducted by Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) on soil samples collected from multiple sites within the South Range of the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). The goal of the laboratory tests was to establish soil constitutive properties and develop computational soil models enabling NASA to simulate impact landings of the Earth Entry System (EES) for the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. Test methods and results are presented describing the strength, compressibility, and stiffness of soils in the UTTR South Range including methods to incorporate the measured properties into Ansys LS-DYNAÒ constitutive material models for EES landing simulations.

Soil↗

NASA NTRS1972

Lunar soil properties and soil mechanics

The study to identify and define recognizable fabrics in lunar soil in order to determine the history of the lunar regolith in different locations is reported. The fabric of simulated lunar soil, and lunar soil samples are discussed along with the behavior of simulated lunar soil under dynamic and static loading. The planned research is also included.

Mitchell, J. K.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Plan of research for integrated soil moisture studies. Recommendations of the Soil Moisture Working Group

Soil moisture information is a potentially powerful tool for applications in agriculture, water resources, and climate. At present, it is difficult for users of this information to clearly define their needs in terms of accuracy, resolution and frequency because of the current sparsity of data. A plan is described for defining and conducting an integrated and coordinated research effort to develop and refine remote sensing techniques which will determine spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture and to utilize soil moisture information in support of agricultural, water resources, and climate applications. The soil moisture requirements of these three different application areas were reviewed in relation to each other so that one plan covering the three areas could be formulated. Four subgroups were established to write and compile the plan, namely models, ground-based studies, aircraft experiments, and spacecraft missions.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1983

Passive microwave sensing of soil moisture content - The effects of soil bulk density and surface roughness

Microwave radiometric measurements over bare fields of different surface roughness were made at frequencies of 1.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 10.7 GHz to study the frequency dependence, as well as the possible time variation, of surface roughness. An increase in surface roughness was found to increase the brightness temperature of soils and reduce the slope of regression between brightness temperature and soil moisture content. The frequency dependence of the surface roughness effect was relatively weak when compared with that of the vegetation effect. Radiometric time-series observations over a given field indicate that field surface roughness might gradually diminish with time, especially after a rainfall or irrigation. The variation of surface roughness increases the uncertainty of remote soil moisture estimates by microwave radiometry. Three years of radiometric measurements over a test site revealed a possible inconsistency in the soil bulk density determination, which is an important factor in the interpretation of radiometric data.

Wang, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Passive microwave sensing of soil moisture content: Soil bulk density and surface roughness

Microwave radiometric measurements over bare fields of different surface roughnesses were made at the frequencies of 1.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 10.7 GHz to study the frequency dependence as well as the possible time variation of surface roughness. The presence of surface roughness was found to increase the brightness temperature of soils and reduce the slope of regression between brightness temperature and soil moisture content. The frequency dependence of the surface roughness effect was relatively weak when compared with that of the vegetation effect. Radiometric time series observation over a given field indicated that field surface roughness might gradually diminish with time, especially after a rainfall or irrigation. This time variation of surface roughness served to enhance the uncertainty in remote soil moisture estimate by microwave radiometry. Three years of radiometric measurements over a test site revealed a possible inconsistency in the soil bulk density determination, which turned out to be an important factor in the interpretation of radiometric data.

Wang, J. R.↗