Chinese Soil Moisture Observation Network and Time Series Data Set for High Resolution Satellite Applications

High-quality ground observation networks are an important basis for scientific research. Here, an automatic soil observation network for high-resolution satellite applications in China (SONTE-China) was established to measure both pixel- and multilayer-based soil moisture and temperature. SONTE-China is distributed across 17 field observation stations with a variety of ecosystems, covering both dry and wet zones. In this paper, the average root mean squared error (RMSE) of station-based soil moisture for well-characterized SONTE-China sites is 0.027 m³/m³ (0.014~0.057 m³/m³) following calibration for specific soil properties. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the observed soil moisture and temperature in SONTE-China conform to the geographical location, seasonality and rainfall of each station. The time series Sentinel-1 C-band radar signal and soil moisture show strong correlations, and the RMSE of the estimated soil moisture from radar data was lower than 0.05 m³/m³ for the Guyuan and Minqin stations. SONTE-China is a soil moisture retrieval algorithm that can validate soil moisture products and provide basic data for weather forecasting, flood forecasting, agricultural drought monitoring and water resource management.