Bell, V.A. et al

Collated neutron probe measurements and derived soil moisture data, UK, 1966-2013

https://doi.org/10.5285/450bb14b-c711-47af-8792-f9bd88482cd4 Cite this dataset

The dataset of neutron probe soil moisture observations for 112 sites (428 probe locations) from 1966 to 2013 includes 4 comma-separated tables, derived from the UK Soil Moisture Databank.

The data include:
• Neutron probe readings (number of neutrons) and Volumetric soil moisture content (m3 m-3) at a range of soil depths
• Profile moisture content (m3 m-3) to a range of soil depths
• Metadata (includes probe location, maximum depth of readings, soil type, vegetation, start date, end date)
• Relevant publications (references and URL where available) for individual datasets

The tube site locations are provided as British National Grid references and latitude/longitude in the tube metadata file. Depths of tube readings are provided in metres.

Publication date: 2022-05-19

Format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

Where/When

Study area
Temporal extent: 1966-01-01 to 2013-12-31

Provenance & quality

An archive of neutron probe data for over 400 UK locations has been assembled following a data recovery process. The UKSMD (UK Soil Moisture Databank) consists of neutron probe observations from 1966 to 2013 recovered from fragile magnetic tapes and from disparate spreadsheets and databases. Much of the older data (1960s and 1970s) formed part of a national soil moisture database, “The Soil Moisture Databank (SMDB)” which was previously considered lost, but has since been recovered from old tapes, reassembled, and quality assessed. An additional archive of more-recent neutron probe data for a further 329 probe locations up to 2013 has been retrieved from disparate spreadsheets and databases across UKCEH. All associated data, from the raw digitised neutron probe measurements to volumetric soil moisture data have been quality controlled and converted to standard (SI) units
See supporting information for more details.