Characterizing precipitation and soil moisture drydowns in Finland using SMAP satellite data

Kouki, Kerttu; Colliander, Andreas

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4791-2025

Articles | Volume 29, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4791-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4791-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 29, issue 19

Research article

|

30 Sep 2025

Research article |

| 30 Sep 2025

Characterizing precipitation and soil moisture drydowns in Finland using SMAP satellite data

Kerttu Kouki and Andreas Colliander

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4791-2025-supplement

Data sets

Hydrological data measured in Lompolonjängänoja (LJO) catchment J.-P. Nousu et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10820563

SMEAR Värriö and Hyytiälä SmartSMEAR https://smear.avaa.csc.fi/

SMAP Enhanced L3 Radiometer Global and Polar Grid Daily 9 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture, Version 6 P. E. O'Neill et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/M20OXIZHY3RJ

Short summary

Precipitation (P) and soil moisture (SM) are critical components of the climate system but poorly understood in the Arctic. Using NASA's SMAP satellite, we analyzed SM and P patterns in Finland. SM and P correlate strongly in summer and fall but weakly in spring due to snowmelt. While the area of P can be estimated from SM, estimating its intensity is more challenging. Water bodies complicate SM retrieval. The promising results suggest this method could be applied across the Arctic.