National soil moisture monitoring network
As a sub-project of the National Drought Programme, MeteoSwiss was commissioned to set up a national in-situ soil moisture monitoring network. The idea for the monitoring network was developed in collaboration with a national expert group on soil moisture. It also takes into account a study on the assessment of soil moisture monitoring networks. The monitoring network is currently being set up.
The project aims to transfer existing university soil moisture monitoring stations to long-term, secure, operational operation. The research institutions concerned lack the financial resources to continue operating these stations themselves. Furthermore, new locations are to be equipped with soil moisture sensors in order to monitor the whole of Switzerland.
The monitoring network covers both grassland and forest sites. Grasslands are recorded exclusively at selected stations in the MeteoSwiss automatic monitoring network, SwissMetNet. The forest stations are equipped and operated by the Swiss federal institute of technology ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL at their existing monitoring sites.
The soil-water balance is comprehensively monitored at the monitoring network sites. Volumetric soil water content, soil matrix potential, soil temperature and the electrical conductivity of the soil are all continuously measured. The main soil properties that influence soil water are also analysed by the Swiss Soil Competence Centre KOBO. KOBO carried out preliminary soil analyses to ensure that the soil structure at the selected sites was representative of the surrounding area and therefore suitable for the measurements planned.
Besides the data from the national soil moisture monitoring network, which is currently being set up, the central MeteoSwiss database will contain soil moisture data from Swiss partner institutions that agree to pass on their data. The aim is to create a comprehensive and uniform, quality-controlled soil moisture dataset for the whole of Switzerland. The data will be presented visually on this drought platform and made available for other relevant applications: irrigation management, soil protection, prevention of other natural hazards such as mass movements or flooding, as well as meteorological, hydrological and climate modelling.