Articles | Volume 28, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5419-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5419-2024
Research article
 | 
17 Dec 2024
Research article |  | 17 Dec 2024

Improved representation of soil moisture processes through incorporation of cosmic-ray neutron count measurements in a large-scale hydrologic model

Eshrat Fatima, Rohini Kumar, Sabine Attinger, Maren Kaluza, Oldrich Rakovec, Corinna Rebmann, Rafael Rosolem, Sascha E. Oswald, Luis Samaniego, Steffen Zacharias, and Martin Schrön

Related authors

Explicit Representation and Calibration of Different Landscape Units for a Robust Catchment DOC Export Model
Tam V. Nguyen, Rohini Kumar, José L. J. Ledesma, Pia Ebeling, Jan Fleckenstein, and Andreas Musolff
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6246,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6246, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
QUADICA v2: extending the large-sample data set for water QUAlity, DIscharge and Catchment Attributes in Germany
Pia Ebeling, Alexander Hubig, Alexander Wachholz, Ulrike Scharfenberger, Sarah Haug, Tam Nguyen, Fanny Sarrazin, Masooma Batool, Andreas Musolff, and Rohini Kumar
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 691–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-691-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-691-2026, 2026
Short summary
Soil moisture monitoring with cosmogenic neutrons: an asset for the development and assessment of soil moisture products in the state of Brandenburg (Germany)
Maik Heistermann, Daniel Altdorff, Till Francke, Martin Schrön, Peter M. Grosse, Arvid Markert, Albrecht Bauriegel, Peter Biró, Sabine Attinger, Frank Beyrich, Peter Dietrich, Rebekka Eichstädt, Jakob Terschlüsen, Ariane Walz, Steffen Zacharias, and Sascha E. Oswald
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 465–486, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-465-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-465-2026, 2026
Short summary
The ISIMIP groundwater sector: a framework for ensemble modeling of global change impacts on groundwater
Robert Reinecke, Tanjila Akhter, Annemarie Bäthge, Ricarda Dietrich, Sebastian Gnann, Simon N. Gosling, Danielle Grogan, Andreas Hartmann, Stefan Kollet, Rohini Kumar, Richard Lammers, Sida Liu, Yan Liu, Nils Moosdorf, Bibi Naz, Sara Nazari, Chibuike Orazulike, Yadu Pokhrel, Jacob Schewe, Mikhail Smilovic, Maryna Strokal, Wim Thiery, Yoshihide Wada, Shan Zuidema, and Inge de Graaf
Geosci. Model Dev., 19, 523–542, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-523-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-523-2026, 2026
Short summary
Evaluation of high-resolution meteorological data products using flux tower observations across Brazil
Jamie R. C. Brown, Ross Woods, Humberto Ribeiro da Rocha, Debora Regina Roberti, and Rafael Rosolem
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 141–162, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-141-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-141-2026, 2026
Short summary

Cited articles

Albergel, C., Calvet, J.-C., de Rosnay, P., Balsamo, G., Wagner, W., Hasenauer, S., Naeimi, V., Martin, E., Bazile, E., Bouyssel, F., and Mahfouf, J.-F.: Cross-evaluation of modelled and remotely sensed surface soil moisture with in situ data in southwestern France, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 2177–2191, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-2177-2010, 2010. a
Altdorff, D., Oswald, S. E., Zacharias, S., Zengerle, C., Dietrich, P., Mollenhauer, H., Attinger, S., and Schrön, M.: Toward Large-Scale Soil Moisture Monitoring Using Rail-Based Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing, Water Resour. Res., 59, e2022WR033514, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033514, 2023. a
Andreasen, M., Jensen, K. H., Desilets, D., Franz, T. E., Zreda, M., Bogena, H. R., and Looms, M. C.: Status and perspectives on the cosmic-ray neutron method for soil moisture estimation and other environmental science applications, Vadose Zone J., 16, 1–11, 2017.  a
Avery, W. A., Finkenbiner, C., Franz, T. E., Wang, T., Nguy-Robertson, A. L., Suyker, A., Arkebauer, T., and Muñoz-Arriola, F.: Incorporation of globally available datasets into the roving cosmic-ray neutron probe method for estimating field-scale soil water content, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 3859–3872, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-3859-2016, 2016. a
Baatz, R., Bogena, H., Franssen, H.-J. H., Huisman, J., Qu, W., Montzka, C., and Vereecken, H.: Calibration of a catchment scale cosmic-ray probe network: A comparison of three parameterization methods, J. Hydrol., 516, 231–244, 2014. a, b
Download
Short summary
This study establishes a framework to incorporate cosmic-ray neutron measurements into the mesoscale Hydrological Model (mHM). We evaluate different approaches to estimate neutron counts within the mHM using the Desilets equation, with uniformly and non-uniformly weighted average soil moisture, and the physically based code COSMIC. The data improved not only soil moisture simulations but also the parameterisation of evapotranspiration in the model.
Share