This is Archived Content. It may not meet current accessibility standards or contain working links. It is being provided for historical, research, or recordkeeping purposes. Please Contact Us if you have any questions regarding this content or its limitations.
Nebraska Soil Moisture Index Map - July 26, 2010
Author: Eric Hunt - University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Published: 2010-07-27 19:29:15
Updated: 2013-06-26 16:31:02
The High Plains Regional Climate Center is now featuring a weekly Nebraska Soil Moisture Index map. For the next month or two, the HPRCC will feature a weekly Nebraska soil moisture report and map on the front page of the website, before moving it to a permanent location on the AWDN Soil Moisture page. If you have any comments or questions about the SMI, please use the contact us page.
"The Soil Moisture Index (SMI) is an index applied to the volumetric water content at the depths of 10, 25, and 50 cm. It is averaged over those three depths and scaled such that 5.0 represents field capacity and -5.0 represents the wilting point. Measurements are made under grass covered, rain fed conditions and may not be representative of soil moisture conditions in fields with standard row crops." To learn more about the SMI, click here.
Nebraska Weekly Soil Moisture Report - July 26, 2010
Soil moisture conditions across the state are finally starting to look a bit more typical for July in Nebraska. Nine sites have an SMI below 0.0 (mainly in western Nebraska) and around 10 others statewide will be there by the end of the week if rain does not fall soon. There are still pockets of very moist soils though. The SMI of 5.0 around Concord reflects the heavy precipitation that fell in the northeastern region of the state late last week and the high SMI’s at Lincoln and Mead reflect the wet and humid conditions that have been the rule most of this summer in eastern Nebraska.