Dataset Information

Agriculture intensifies soil moisture decline in Northern China.

ABSTRACT: Northern China is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Agricultural activities have intensified since the 1980s to provide food security to the country. However, this intensification has likely contributed to an increasing scarcity in water resources, which may in turn be endangering food security. Based on in-situ measurements of soil moisture collected in agricultural plots during 1983-2012, we find that topsoil (0-50 cm) volumetric water content during the growing season has declined significantly (p < 0.01), with a trend of -0.011 to -0.015 m(3) m(-3) per decade. Observed discharge declines for the three large river basins are consistent with the effects of agricultural intensification, although other factors (e.g. dam constructions) likely have contributed to these trends. Practices like fertilizer application have favoured biomass growth and increased transpiration rates, thus reducing available soil water. In addition, the rapid proliferation of water-expensive crops (e.g., maize) and the expansion of the area dedicated to food production have also contributed to soil drying. Adoption of alternative agricultural practices that can meet the immediate food demand without compromising future water resources seem critical for the sustainability of the food production system.

SUBMITTER: Liu Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4497304 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Agriculture intensifies soil moisture decline in Northern China.

Liu Yaling Y Pan Zhihua Z Zhuang Qianlai Q Miralles Diego G DG Teuling Adriaan J AJ Zhang Tonglin T An Pingli P Dong Zhiqiang Z Zhang Jingting J He Di D Wang Liwei L Pan Xuebiao X Bai Wei W Niyogi Dev D

Scientific reports 20150709

Northern China is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Agricultural activities have intensified since the 1980s to provide food security to the country. However, this intensification has likely contributed to an increasing scarcity in water resources, which may in turn be endangering food security. Based on in-situ measurements of soil moisture collected in agricultural plots during 1983-2012, we find that topsoil (0-50 cm) volumetric water content during the growing season ha ...[more]

PMID: 26158774

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Project description:The dataset presented in this article is related to the work "Evaluation and Analysis of SMAP, AMSR2, and MEaSUREs Freeze/Thaw Products in China [1]". Soil moisture and temperature are important variables of land-atmosphere energy exchange, monitoring vegetation growth, predicting drought disasters and climate and hydrological modelling [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. This work provides detailed information on in situ soil moisture and temperature data network established in the Genhe watershed and Saihanba area in China, respectively. The Genhe watershed represents the complex surface heterogeneity in Northeast China. Therefore, data from 22 in situ sites were established in the Genhe watershed since March 2016 to improve the dynamic analysis and modeling of remotely sensed information for complex land surfaces. Saihanba is currently China's largest manmade forest and has a unique alpine wetland and a complete aquatic ecosystem. There are 29 in situ sites deployed in Saihanba since August 2018 for studying the cold temperate continental monsoon climate and estimating forest carbon storage capacity and carbon emissions from manmade forests. Soil temperature and permittivity data in the network were measured using ECH2O EC-5TM probes (Decagon Devices, Inc., Washington, USA, https://www.metergroup.com/) and XingShiTu (XST) probes (BEIJING XST Co., Ltd., www.xingshitu.com) every 30 min at depths of 3, 5, and 10 cm for the Genhe watershed continuous automatic observation network, and depths of 5 and 10 cm for the Saihanba continuous automatic observation network. In the Genhe watershed, soil moisture and soil temperature data in the network were automatically collected using the EM50 data collection system. The Saihanba area has the XST data collection system to record soil temperature and permittivity. The permittivity data collected with the XST data collector were transformed to soil moisture data (volumetric water content) based on the formula developed by [7]. The datasets of the Genhe watershed and Saihanba area consist of raw data acquired by the data collector and processed data of soil moisture and temperature. The Saihanba dataset also includes the calibration data based on soil texture. The result of temporal variations analysis in observed data in the Genhe Watershed and the processing in observed data in the saihanba area show that the long-term in situ soil moisture and temperature datasets can be used for the validation/calibration and improvement of the soil moisture and soil freeze/thaw algorithm.

Dataset Information

Agriculture intensifies soil moisture decline in Northern China.

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Agriculture intensifies soil moisture decline in Northern China.

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