Advancing Forest Soil Moisture Monitoring in the Daniel Boone National Forest: Exploring Complex Topography

This project is a pilot project under the U.S. Forest Service’s recently formed Soil Moisture Monitoring Network Initiative. It is intended to explore best practices for forest soil moisture monitoring and data collection, taking as a case study the complex terrain found in the Daniel Boone National Forest (DBNF) of eastern Kentucky.

The project includes installation of 1–2 soil moisture micronets within the forest, with monitoring sites selected to represent the diversity of terrain characteristic of the Cumberland Plateau. The micronets will each be anchored by the fully equipped Kentucky Mesonet station and will be designed and operated to facilitate research on soil moisture-terrain relationships. In addition, the project will include collaboration between the U.S Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey's Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, and Western Kentucky University on joint research activities related to monitoring in complex forested terrain.

For more information, view the Kentucky Mesonet's project web page, or  contact Elise Osenga (elise.osenga@noaa.gov) or Molly Woloszyn (molly.woloszyn@noaa.gov).