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 - September 6, 2010
Author: Eric Hunt - University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Published: 2010-09-07 14:13:10
Updated: 2013-06-26 16:33:11
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 - September 6, 2010
Rainfall was plentiful in eastern Nebraska over the past week and sites such as Lincoln, Nebraska City, and Indian Cave State Park all climbed back above the 0.0 line for the first time in almost a month. With a couple of exceptions, most of the state is relatively dry west of Highway 81. The statewide median is down to -1.7 and as of this writing, only four stations west of Lincoln have an SMI above 0.0. Eight stations have an SMI below -3.5, indicative of more severe stress on vegetation.