Temporal anomalies and time invariant variability of soil moisture in a
subhumid coastal wetland
Abstract
The knowledge of soil moisture spatio-temporal variability is highly
relevant for water resources management. This is especially significant
in highly demanding areas of arid and semiarid regions where sensitive
ecosystems, agriculture and recreational areas are competing for water
resources. This study reports an analysis of the spatial-temporal
variability of soil moisture data for a small to medium-scale network in
a coastal wetland of southwestern Spain. Measurements were taken from 5
sites located in the Doñana National Park, with an extension of approx.
25 × 3 km over the time-period of one hydrological year from September
2017 to September 2018. Absolute soil moisture was separated in two
components: the temporal mean (time-invariant term) and the deviations
from the mean or anomalies (time-variant term). The time-invariant
component was generally the main contributor to the total spatial
variance of absolute soil moisture data and it was mostly controlled by
the groundwater levels in the area. Nevertheless, the time variant terms
have a huge effect on soil moisture variability in very dry states at
all 5 sites. Time-dependent patterns were found between average soil
moisture state and the variance and covariance of both the time-variant
and time-invariant components of soil moisture, which could be used for
the up and downscaling of soil moisture from satellite data. Those
patterns were only affected by heavy rainfalls giving rise to hysteretic
behavior. This study shows that even though groundwater level is a
time-variant variable, it significantly affects soil moisture’s
time-variant and time-invariant terms.