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Weekly Nebraska Soil Moisture Report - May 1, 2011
Author: Eric Hunt - University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Published: 2011-05-02 21:38:21
Updated: 2013-06-26 15:43:12
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 - May1, 2011
Most of the state received between 0.25 and 0.50 in. over the past week. A few sites saw improvement, particularly at Sidney, and with relatively cool temperatures, most sites maintained the status quo. A week of dry weather is expected for much of the state, which should be good for planting. Temperatures should be average to slightly below statewide most of the week, so ET rates should be low and soil moisture losses will be small.