Data from: A field-scale sensor network data set for monitoring and modeling the spatial and temporal variation of soil moisture in a dryland agricultural field

Automated in situ soil sensor network - the data set includes hourly and daily measurements of volumetric water content, soil temperature, and bulk electrical conductivity, collected at 42 monitoring locations and 5 depths (30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 cm) across Cook Agronomy Farm. Data collection was initiated in April 2007 and is ongoing.

Description of data

Tabular data

CAF_sensors: folder with Daily and Hourly subfolders, each containing 42 '.txt' files of water content and temperature sensor readings. Each file represents readings from a single location, indicated in the file name (i.e. CAF003.txt) and in the 'Location' field of the table. Readings are organized by 'Date' (4/20/2007 - 6/16/2016), ‘Time’ (24 hr clock, only in hourly files), and with property (VW or T) and sensor 'Depth' as follows:

• VW_30cm: volumetric water readings at 30 cm depth (m^3/m^3)
• VW_60cm: volumetric water readings at 60 cm depth (m^3/m^3)
• VW_90cm: volumetric water readings at 90 cm depth (m^3/m^3)
• VW_120cm: volumetric water readings at 120 cm depth (m^3/m^3)
• VW_150cm: volumetric water readings at 150 cm depth (m^3/m^3)
• T_30cm: temperature readings at 30 cm depth (C)
• T_60cm: temperature readings at 60 cm depth (C)
• T_90cm: temperature readings at 90 cm depth (C)
• T_120cm: temperature readings at 120 cm depth (C)
• T_150cm: temperature readings at 150 cm depth (C)

Volumetric water content readings are calibrated according to: Gasch, CK, DJ Brown, ES Brooks, M Yourek, M Poggio, DR Cobos, CS Campbell. 2017. A pragmatic, automated approach for retroactive calibration of soil moisture sensors using a two-step, soil specific correction. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 137: 29-40. Temperature readings are factory calibrated.

CAF_BulkDensity.txt: file containing bulk density values ('BulkDensity' in g/cm^3) for sensor depths at each of the 42 instrumented locations at Cook Farm. Location is indicated in 'Location' field, and sample depths are defined (in cm) by the ’Depth’ field.

CAF_CropID.txt: file containing crop codes for each sub-field (A, B and C) and strip (1-6 for A and B, 1-8 for C) at Cook Farm for 2007-2016. This is also part of the attribute table for 'CAF_strips.shp'

CAF_CropCodes.txt: file containing crop code names and crop identities, used in 'CAF_CropID.txt' and 'CAF_strips.shp'

CAF_ParticleSize.txt: file containing particle size fractions ('Sand', 'Silt', and 'Clay' as percent) for each 'Location' at sensor depths ('Depth', in cm).

Spatial data

All spatial data have spatial reference NAD83, UTM11N

CAF_sensors.shp: file containing locations of each of the 42 monitoring locations, the 'Location' field contains the location name, which coincides with locations in tabular files.

CAF_strips.shp: file containing areal extents of each sub-field, stip, and crop identities for 2007-2016. Crop identity codes are listed in 'CAF_CropCodes.txt'

CAF_DEM.tif: file containing a 10 x 10 m elevation (in m) grid for Cook Farm.

CAF_Spring_ECa.tif, CAF_Fall_ECa.tif: files containing 10 x 10 m apparent electrical conductivity (dS/m) grids to 1.5 m depth for spring and fall at Cook Farm.

CAF_Bt_30cm.tif, CAF_Bt_60cm.tif, CAF_Bt_90cm.tif, CAF_Bt_120cm.tif, CAF_Bt_150cm.tif: files containing 10 x 10 m predictive surfaces for probability (0-1) of Bt horizon at the five sensor depths.

Quality Control

The Flags folder consists of the files containing the quality control flags for the Cook Farm Sensor Dataset.

The nomenclature for the files indicates flags for either temperature (T) or water content (VW) and sensor depths. For example:

• T_30 is for the temperature data at 30cm. depth
• VW_120 is for the Volumetric water content at 120 cm. depth

Files starting with “missing” contain flags (“M”) for locations and dates (mm/dd/yyyy) with missing data (NA in original dataset).

Files starting with “range” contain flags for locations and dates (mm/dd/yyyy) with values outside acceptable ranges:

• Soil moisture (0-0.6 m^3/m^3) flagged as “C”
• Soil temperature (<0 deg. C) flagged as “D”

Files starting with the name “flats” contain flags (“D”) for locations, dates (mm/dd/yyyy), and times (hh:mm) with constant values (within 1%) for a 24 hour period, as in Dorigo et al. 2013.

Files starting with the name “spikes” contain flags (“D”) for locations, dates (mm/dd/yyy), and times (hh:mm) with sudden spikes in VWC readings.

Files starting with the name “breaks” contain flags (“D”) for locations, dates (mm/dd/yyy), and times (hh:mm) with sudden breaks (jumps or drops) in VWC readings.

Code (implemented in R) for the screening and flagging is included in “Code Snippet.txt”

A list of the sensor versions as of 06/16/16 at each location and depth.

• Resource Title: Data package for automated in situ soil sensor network.

  File Name: CAF_Sensor_Dataset.zip

  Resource Description: Data file descriptions for Cook Farm sensor network data set (CAF_Sensor_Dataset). Data set compiled by Caley Gasch, under supervision of David Brown, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Updated: 04/01/2017 Tabular data: CAF_sensors: folder with Daily and Hourly subfolders, each containing 42 '.txt' files of water content and temperature sensor readings. Each file represents readings from a single location, indicated in the file name (i.e. CAF003.txt) and in the 'Location' field of the table. Readings are organized by 'Date' (4/20/2007 - 6/16/2016), ‘Time’ (24 hr clock, only in hourly files), and with property (VW or T) and sensor 'Depth' as follows: VW_30cm: volumetric water readings at 30 cm depth (m^3/m^3) VW_60cm: volumetric water readings at 60 cm depth (m^3/m^3) VW_90cm: volumetric water readings at 90 cm depth (m^3/m^3) VW_120cm: volumetric water readings at 120 cm depth (m^3/m^3) VW_150cm: volumetric water readings at 150 cm depth (m^3/m^3) T_30cm: temperature readings at 30 cm depth (C) T_60cm: temperature readings at 60 cm depth (C) T_90cm: temperature readings at 90 cm depth (C) T_120cm: temperature readings at 120 cm depth (C) T_150cm: temperature readings at 150 cm depth (C) Volumetric water content readings are calibrated according to: Gasch, CK, DJ Brown, ES Brooks, M Yourek, M Poggio, DR Cobos, CS Campbell. 2017. A pragmatic, automated approach for retroactive calibration of soil moisture sensors using a two-step, soil specific correction. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 137: 29-40. Temperature readings are factory calibrated. CAF_BulkDensity.txt: file containing bulk density values ('BulkDensity' in g/cm^3) for sensor depths at each of the 42 instrumented locations at Cook Farm. Location is indicated in 'Location' field, and sample depths are defined (in cm) by the ’Depth’ field. CAF_CropID.txt: file containing crop codes for each sub-field (A, B and C) and strip (1-6 for A and B, 1-8 for C) at Cook Farm for 2007-2016. This is also part of the attribute table for 'CAF_strips.shp' CAF_CropCodes.txt: file containing crop code names and crop identities, used in 'CAF_CropID.txt' and 'CAF_strips.shp' CAF_ParticleSize.txt: file containing particle size fractions ('Sand', 'Silt', and 'Clay' as percent) for each 'Location' at sensor depths ('Depth', in cm). Spatial data: all spatial data have spatial reference NAD83, UTM11N CAF_sensors.shp: file containing locations of each of the 42 monitoring locations, the 'Location' field contains the location name, which coincides with locations in tabular files. CAF_strips.shp: file containing areal extents of each sub-field, stip, and crop identities for 2007-2016. Crop identity codes are listed in 'CAF_CropCodes.txt' CAF_DEM.tif: file containing a 10 x 10 m elevation (in m) grid for Cook Farm. CAF_Spring_ECa.tif, CAF_Fall_ECa.tif: files containing 10 x 10 m apparent electrical conductivity (dS/m) grids to 1.5 m depth for spring and fall at Cook Farm. CAF_Bt_30cm.tif, CAF_Bt_60cm.tif, CAF_Bt_90cm.tif, CAF_Bt_120cm.tif, CAF_Bt_150cm.tif: files containing 10 x 10 m predictive surfaces for probability (0-1) of Bt horizon at the five sensor depths. (Dataset updated on 10/23/2017 to include QC information.)