f UNDERSTANDING THE SPATIOTEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL MOISTURE AT INTERMEDIATE SPATIAL SCALES USING GEOPHYSICAL METHODS

The spatiotemporal distribution of soil moisture is critical for partitioning the water, energy, and carbon cycles at a variety of scales. In drylands, soil moisture is intimately linked to rainfall recycling shown through autocorrelation with future events. In this research, we investigate different soil moisture datasets collected at various scales from the Santa Rita Experimental Range in southern Arizona and Tonzi Ranch in northern California. We will present a series of electromagnetic induction surveys (EMI) that were collected within the footprint of a continuously recording cosmic ray probe (COSMOS). By performing the surveys within a COSMOS footprint we are able to better understand and interpret the information from the less rigorous but data rich EMI surveys. With this spatial information we are able to better understand the controls of topography, texture, and soil depth on the organization of vegetation at the landscape scale. Finally, we are able to quantify the uncertainty and support volume of each instrument through modeling experiments with the goal of obtaining more accurate information about the inferred fluxes.