Temporal Stability of Soil Moisture Spatial Distribution in a Forested Catchment

Soil moisture spatial distribution is a key component to characterize and model water movement at the catchment scale. The general pattern of spatial variability in soil moisture is much more stable over time than would be expected from random processes. However, such temporal persistence may depend on the scale of observation. Soil moisture, integrated with soils information and landforms, was monitored at 77 sites at the Shale Hills Catchment in central Pennsylvania over one and half years. Daily and weekly soil moisture records were used to investigate the temporal stability of moisture distribution in the catchment.