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Updated: Feb 27, 2026
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In Situ Soil Moisture Sensors in Undisturbed Soils
Published on: November 18, 2022
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InSAR constraints on soil moisture evolution after the March 2015 extreme precipitation event in Chile
C P Scott1,2, R B Lohman3, T E Jordan1
1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Scientific Reports
|July 9, 2017
Summary
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) effectively monitored soil moisture changes in Chile's Atacama Desert after extreme rainfall. This technology offers valuable insights for agriculture and water management.
Area of Science:
- Earth Observation
- Hydrology
- Remote Sensing
Background:
- Soil moisture data is crucial for agriculture, weather forecasting, and water resource management.
- Space-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) offers cloud-penetrating, near-global soil moisture proxy data.
- Understanding soil moisture dynamics is vital for managing water resources and flood risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze soil moisture changes using InSAR data following a major precipitation event in the Atacama Desert.
- To assess the consistency and spatial extent of InSAR-derived soil moisture measurements.
- To investigate the temporal evolution of soil moisture and water storage timescales.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a 1.5-year InSAR time series dataset.
- Analyzed radar imagery amplitude and phase content to derive soil moisture proxies.
- Covered a region of approximately 100 km in the hyperarid Atacama Desert.
- Examined data from an extreme precipitation event in March 2015 and a subsequent smaller event.
Main Results:
- Inferred soil moisture increase and subsequent drying trends were consistent across independent InSAR tracks.
- Successfully constrained immediate soil moisture increases and drying timescales.
- Observed the soil moisture response to both extreme and smaller precipitation events.
- Demonstrated the capability to image soil characteristic evolution over diverse surface types.
Conclusions:
- InSAR provides a robust method for monitoring soil moisture dynamics over large areas, even in arid regions.
- The findings highlight the value of InSAR for informing agricultural practices and water resource policies.
- Accurate soil moisture data is increasingly important for communities facing water scarcity and flood risks.
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