Earth Observation & Hydrology

High-Frequency Soil Hydrothermal Observations from a Semi-Arid Monsoon Catchment, 2016–2025

A decade-long, 15-minute resolution record of soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity from the Berambadi agricultural catchment, Karnataka — covering 944 rainfall events across wet, drought, and recovery years. Under review.

Period
2025–Present
Where
Indian Institute of Science
Role
Research Associate
Methods
Time-series Analysis, Soil Hydrology, Open Dataset

Dataset: Continuous 15-minute measurements of soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity (or dielectric permittivity from 2021) at 5 cm and 50 cm depths, with an additional 15 cm depth from 2021 onwards. Co-located precipitation recorded at the same interval. Delivered as annual CSV files in Indian Standard Time.

Study site: Berambadi agricultural catchment, Mysore Plateau, Karnataka (~84 km²). Part of the Kabini Critical Zone Observatory and the OZCAR network. Mixed rainfed and groundwater-irrigated agriculture under semi-arid monsoon conditions (~800 mm/yr).

Record span: 2016–2025. Covers event, seasonal, and interannual scales including a wet year (2016), drought (2023), and recovery (2024). Sensor transition in 2021 (EC → dielectric permittivity) with one year of overlap to support continuity.

What it provides:

  • 944-event rainfall catalogue with sub-hourly resolution
  • Depth-dependent thermal and hydraulic response of the soil profile
  • One of the few long-term, sub-hourly soil hydrothermal records from the Indian monsoon belt

Submitted to: Scientific Data (June 2026, under review after revision)