Dry soil

Variability in the moisture held in soil is a consequence of the continuous exchange of water between the land and atmosphere. Although soil only holds a small percentage of the total global budget, soil moisture plays an important role in the water cycle.

ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission will provide global maps of soil moisture every three days. The soil moisture data delivered by the SMOS mission are being validated by taking coincident ground truth measurements, which are being fed into the newly established International Soil Moisture Network.