Enhancing the Catalan Soil Moisture Observation Network (XMS-Cat): from agricultural and climatic applications to hazard assessment.

Authors: Boquera, Lola ; Janeras, Marc ; Lladós, Agnès ; Portell, Xavier and Vicens, Marc

Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya. Parc de Montjuïc 08038, Barcelona, Spain. https://www.icgc.cat/

  XMS-Cat is a soil moisture observation network implemented by the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia (ICGC) to characterize climatic conditions and soil moisture throughout Catalonia. Each station in the network measures soil temperature and volumetric water content at several depths (typically 5, 20, 50, and 100 cm), as well as atmospheric variables such as rainfall, air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation. The network currently provides high-quality, open-access data for farmers, land managers, and scientists (Soil monitoring network ICGC website:  https://visors.icgc.cat/mesurasols/#9.67/42.4378/0.7495).

While volumetric water content measured by XMS-Cat sensors is a quantitative measure of soil moisture, shallow landslides triggered by rainfall are more closely related to the soil water energy state, which can be better assessed using water potential sensors. Consequently, in 2023, an experimental phase was initiated in which new XMS-Cat stations were supplemented with both types of sensors.The purpose of this enhancement in addition to deepening knowledge of soil water status is threefold: (1) strengthening soil-related hazard assessment, such as slope stability,(2) improving characterization of the vegetation water stress; and (3)introducing data redundancy to enhance network resilience.

This contribution provides further details of the network reconfiguration and the initial studies conducted.

Keywords: soil moisture, in situ monitoring, network, volumetric water content, water potential, agriculture, vegetation water stress, slope stability, Landslide hazard.