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Monitoring Network of physical parameters of soils in Catalonia (XMS-Cat)

Automatic stations with continuous recording of soil humidity and temperature located in soils dedicated to the cultivation of vineyards

The Network of stations for the monitoring of Physical Parameters of soils in Catalonia (XMS-Cat) is a project initiated in 2015 by the ICGC, which began in the Conca de Tremp (Lleida, Spain), replacing old manual stations with automatic ones with continuous recording of soil moisture and temperature. The stations are located in agricultural soils, specifically vineyards fields. Since 2023, the network has been expanded over other areas of vineyards in the Pyrenees.

The project Monitoring Network of Physical parameters of soils in Catalonia (XMS-Cat) aims to acquire and provide continuous data on the measurement of soil temperature and moisture at different depths and in different areas of the territory of Catalonia. These data, in combination with the measurement of environmental parameters, allow different studies to be carried out such as: the determination of climate soil regimes, environmental studies on climate change (using these parameters as indicators of ecosystem resilience and resistance), hydrological studies (for example the calculation of the water balance in the soil by aquifer recharge studies) and supporting farmers (pest prediction,  optimization of irrigation systems, etc.). 

Viewer ICGC XMS-Cat

International Soil Moisture Network - ISMN

Data access viewer

Access to metada

Viewer ICGC XMS-Cat

In the viewer provided by ICGC it is possible to consult the data of the physical parameters of the soils of the active stations that make up the network, their geographical location and the pedological information.

It is possible to load the layers of the Geoindex-Soils referring to their classifications and climate regimes at scale 1:250.000.

The search for the physical parameters of the soils is carried out according to the date (day / month / year and time) and can be visualized graphically and / or downloaded in csv format. The data that can be consulted are:

  • Soil moisture (m³ / m³) and relative air humidity ( %H2O).
  • Soil moisture (m³/m³) and total rainfall (l/m2).
  • Soil temperature (ºC) and air temperature (ºC).

 

Full window viewwer

 

Use of the collected data

Soil moisture is the water stored in the most superficial layer of our planet, being an indispensable variable in a large number of processes and applications such as:

  • flood forecasting.
  • availability and retention of water.
  • assessing agricultural drought.
  • fire prevention.
  • water resources management.

Soil temperature is important to know:

  • the type, productivity and wilting of plants.
  • the speed of the nutrient cycle.
  • soil microfauna activities.

Both parameters also serve us to:

  • classify soils (taxonomy) through climate regimes.
  • to analyze the feasibility and requirements of sensors in development of small Earth observation satellites.
  • geotechnics (soil mechanics), those are fundamental parameters for landslide control and slope stability.

 

Operation of XMS-Cat stations and technologies used

The stations that make up the network are composed by 4 multi-parametric soil sensors at 5, 20, 50 and 100 cm deep that measure the temperature and moisture of the soil. There are also environmental sensors: rain gauge, pyranometer and a temperature and relative humidity of the air sensor, which are installed in a 3 m high steel .  Inside the cabinet are located a data acquisition system, a power supply system and a data communication system. The perimeter of the station is marked with a fence that also serves as protection (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Diagram of one of the stations of the monitoring network of physical parameters of the soil

Figure 1. Diagram of one of the stations of the monitoring network of physical parameters of the soil.



Data recordings are every 30 minutes. The acquisition systems are equipped with a modem with a SIM card powered by a 30 W photovoltaic panel that allows data to be sent automatically to the ICGC server.

The data is dumped and organized into the NetMon© spatial database management system (ICGC Measurement and Control Station Monitoring System) from which and through a web service they can be consulted, analyzed and downloaded.

These data are public and accessible through the ICGC Viewer – Monitoring Network of physical parameters of Soils in Catalonia (XMS-Cat), in which it is also possible to consult the pedological information of each location.

Figure 2. Conceptual scheme of the XMS-Cat

Figure 2. Conceptual scheme of the XMS-Cat.



Installation of the stations

The station is installed in two phases. In the first phase, excavations are carried out for the foundations of the tower and for the installation of buried sensors. Since the soil information will be basic to understand the data obtained by the sensors at the different depths, a description of the soil is also made in this stage. The different horizons of the soil are identified, and soil samples are analyzed in the laboratory. In the second phase, the tower with the environmental sensors, the solar panel and the cabinet is installed. The cabinet contain the systems of supply, capture and sending of the data as well as the connection of all the sensors. These stations are installed on a margin of the plot, outside the cultivation area.

Installation process of Llívia station (Cerdanya)

Installation process of Llívia station (Cerdanya)



Installation process of the sensors at 5, 20, 50 and 100 cm depth

Installation process of the sensors at 5, 20, 50 and 100 cm depth.  First, they are inserted in the different depths, they are subsequently buried and finally they are connected to the datalogger.



XMS-Cat project implementation status (November 2023)

The project began in Conca de Tremp in 2013 with the installation of a set of sensors in vineyards that were part of a local initiative on high-altitude wines. These sensors had several drawbacks, such as manual discharge of data, power supply problems, accidents due to agricultural work; This did not guarantee continuous registration of data. For this reason, in 2015 they began to be replaced by automatic stations that allow the sending of data through a modem to a database.

Currently (2023) the network consists of 17 stations distributed between several regions of the Catalan Pyrenees such as La Noguera, Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà, Alt Urgell, Alt Empordà and La Cerdanya.

Thanks to the agreement with the International Soil Moisture Network, XMS-Cat data is now also available in the international ISMN viewer (https://ismn.earth/en/dataviewer/) where soil moisture data from around the world can be consulted.

  

Table of stations

References

  • Bradford, J.; Schlaepfer, D.; Lauenroth, W.; Palmquist, K.; Chambers, J.; Maestas, J.; Campbell, S. (2019) Climate-DrivenShifts in Soil Temperature and Moisture Regimes Suggest Opportunities to Enhance Assessments of Dryland Resilience and Resistance. Front. Ecol. Evol. 7: 358. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00358
  • Himmelbauer, I.; Dorigo, W.; Aberer, D.; Schremmer, L.; Petrakovic, I.; Xaver, A.; Zappa, L.; Preimesberger, W.; Scanlon, T. (2020). The International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) for validation of satellite-based products. The International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN), QA4EO/IDEAS Cal/Val Workshop #1, Rome, Italy.
  • Paolina B. Cerlini, P.; Meniconi, S.; Brunone, B. (2017). Groundwater Supply and Climate Change Management by Means of Global Atmospheric Datasets. Preliminary Results, Procedia Engineering, Volume 186: 420-427. ISSN 1877-7058, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.245.
  • Soil Survey Quality Assurance Staff (1994). Soil Climate Regimes of the United States. Lincoln, Nebraska: Soil Consevation Service. National Soil Survey Center. United States Department of Agriculture.
  • Topp, G.; Davis, J.; Annan, A. (1980). Electromagnetic determination of soil water content: measurements in coaxial transmission lines. Water Resources Research, Volume 16: 574-582. https://doi.org/10.1029/WR016i003p00574.
  • Topp, G.; Yanuka, M.; Zebchuk, W.; Zegelin, S. (1988). Determination of electrical conductivity using time domain reflectometry: soil water experiments in coaxial lines. Water Resources Research, Volume 24 (7): 945-952. https://doi.org/10.1029/WR024i007p00945.
  • Tyronese Jackson, Katrina Mansfield, Mohamed Saafi, Tommy Colman, Peter Romine, (2008). Measuring soil temperature and moisture using wireless MEMS sensors, Measurement, Volume 41 (4): 381-390. ISSN 0263-2241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2007.02.009.