Soil Climate Analysis Network – Importance of Monitoring the Influence of Climatic Conditions On Soil.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Water and Climate Center has established a nationwide network of climate monitoring stations known as the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN). The SCAN network provides real-time soil moisture and temperature data coupled with additional climate information for use in natural resource planning, drought assessment, water resource management, and resource inventory. The stations are remotely located and collect hourly atmospheric and soils data that are available to the public online. SCAN is composed of more than 170 near-real-time climate stations that transmit hourly atmospheric and belowground data from spatially representative soils and landscapes.  Sites are located on agriculturally important areas that best represent current irrigated and non-irrigated practices. Baseline chemical, physical, and mineralogical soils data were collected from each SCAN site upon installation. Sensor data (including precipitation, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, air temperature, solar radiation, and soil moisture and temperature at 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 cm) are used to improve irrigation efficiency and rangeland productivity. The collection of climatic data, such as these, is integral to managing agricultural and environmental needs we face now and in the future.