Hign Plains Regional Climate Center, Nebraska

HPRCC stations monitor soil water at 14 sites in Nebraska. The Natural Resources Conservation Service has provided soil moisutre sensors from some of the sites. Currently sensors are placed at 12,25,50 and 100 cm below the surface at each site. The network archives the data for a daily time step. Hourly data can be acquired through special requests.

The soil moisture data is used to monitor drought and climate. This allows the state of Nebraska to conduct an early assessment of hydro-climatic conditions and estimate potential impacts on various sectors of the economy including agriculture. In other words, management of any potential emergency situation related to hydro-climatic conditions is undertaken in a timely fashion before it becomes a crisis.

More information about HPRCC network can be found here.