To release the SM/ST Pilot
Project Final Report.
Effective Upon Receipt
The SM/ST Pilot Project was
proposed in 1990 to address the lack of consistent soil climate data to meet
growing demands for assessment of global climate change and to make better
resource management decisions. The NRCS Resources Inventory and Analysis
Division and the Soils Division formed a partnership to address this need. The
NRCS National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), Portland, Oregon and the
National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska implemented this successful
project.
Installation of SM/ST pilot
project stations began in 1991 and was completed in 1992. The stations were
equipped with sensors to monitor soil-moisture and soil-moisture temperature in
addition to the usual climate parameters including; precipitation, air
temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, and windspeed. There were 21
remote sites in 19 states using meteor-burst communication technology to relay
real-time data. The data was processed, stored, and made available for the user
at the NRCS NWCC.
The attached SM/ST Pilot Project
Final Report describes the project purpose, history, implementation challenges
and improvements, customer demand for data, lessons learned, and
recommendations for future efforts.
Information obtained from this
Project will be used in future Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN), as well as
other monitoring projects.
Details concerning this Pilot
Project and the Final Report are available from Garry L. Schaefer, Team Leader,
Data Resources and Field Support, NWCC, Portland, Oregon. His e-mail address is
gschaefer@wcc.nrcs.usda.gov.
This Note is being distributed
through the NRCS eDirectives system. After issuance and under separate cover,
the National Headquarters (NHQ) Conservation Engineering Division will
distribute limited paper copies to NHQ Division Directors and above and
National Center Directors.
This Note is available
electronically at the Natural Resources Conservation Service eDirectives Web
site at http://policy.nrcs.usda.gov. If a paper copy is retained, please file
it sequentially in Title 430 of the Technical Note binder.
If you have questions, contact
the Team Leader, Data Resources and Field Support, NWCC by telephone at (503)
414-3068.
/s/ /s/
LAWRENCE E.
CLARK MAURICE
J. MAUSBACH
Deputy
Chief Deputy
Chief
Science and
Technology Soil
Survey and Resource Assessment