Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Real-time In-situ Soil Monitoring for Agriculture (RISMA)
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Soil moisture is a critical variable in agri-environmental monitoring as it influences rates of crop growth and productivity, rates of soil biogeochemical processes which impact soil fertility and it also determines boundary layer conditions that drive meteorological processes.
In 2010 and 2011, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), with the collaboration of Environment Canada, established three in situ monitoring networks near Kenaston (Saskatchewan), Carman (Manitoba) and Casselman (Ontario) as part of the Sustainable Agriculture Environmental Systems (SAGES) project titled Earth Observation Information on Crops and Soils for Agri-Environmental Monitoring in Canada.
The near real time in situ soil moisture/temperature and precipitation data from these three networks are used to calibrate and validate remote sensing and modelled soil moisture products. All the in situ stations in the Saskatchewan and Manitoba networks are also equipped with meteorological sensors to complement the existing data with air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction. For more information on the data and the networks, please consult the RISMA Network Metadata report on the link below.
Click on the button below for an interactive map of the network station locations. Click on the network and station of interest to view graphs of current and historical data. Data can also be viewed and downloaded by clicking on the Current Data or Historical Data tabs above.
Register and log-in to download data series. Get more detailed information about the data and the network stations below.
In-situ monitoring networks with near-real time soil moisture, soil temperature and meteorological data have been established in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario to capture conditions for the main agricultural crop types, soil textures and ecozones in Canada.
The data can be used by local producers for day to day operational decisions or by researchers for scientific verification and calibration of remote sensing products, modelling, flood forecasting and drought monitoring.
AAFC acknowledges the land owners for permission to access their land for the installation of our stations and data surveys; Environment Canada for site maintenance, site collaboration and technical support; the University of Guelph and University of Manitoba for data calibration and technical support; and the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan for site maintenance, site collaboration and technical support.