SoilMoistureSoilTemperaturePilotProjectFinalReport.doc

FINAL REPORT SOIL MOISTURE/SOIL TEMPERATURE PILOT PROJECT Geneva, New York SM/ST Station National Soil Survey Center National Water and Climate Center Lincoln, Nebraska Portland, Oregon January 29, 2004  PREFACE The Soil Moisture/Soil Temperature Pilot Project was initiated in 1991 as a ten-year project to determine the feasibility of establishing a national climatic network. This is the final report for the project. The report details the beginning of the project, its history, discoveries, observations, successes and failures, results, improvements, and recommendations for the future. Garry Schaefer, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), served as the project leader. Members of the Soil Temperature and Moisture (STM) Team (see Appendix A for a list of team members) aided in the management of the project and provided advice, recommendations, technical expertise, direction, and occasionally a source of labor. Others, including NRCS soil scientists and NRCS NWCC electronics technicians, contributed to the success of the project. Tom Calhoun, USDA NRCS National Headquarters (NHQ), served as the project sponsor. Funding for the project was from the Global Climate Change Initiative. This report was prepared by Garry L. Schaefer, Ron F. Paetzold, Donald J. Huffman, and Ronald D. Yeck. The Executive Summary section presents a concise overview of the project. The Instrumentation, Data Collection, and Data Management sections of this report each contain the original concept, history, and the final implementation. Everything learned from the project is available in the Results section. An Appendix section is included to provide detailed information that is superfluous to the report. The appendix includes previous project reports in their entirety and other reference materials not considered necessary sections of the basic report. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The SM/ST Pilot Project is funded through the NRCS Global Cl