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Soil-climate estimates in the western United States: climate averages (1981-2010)

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

We provide a collection of data reflecting estimates of soil-climate properties (moisture, temperature, and regimes) based on climate normals (1981-2010). Specifically, we provide estimates for soil moisture (monthly, seasonal, and annual), trends of spring and growing season soil moisture (Theil-Sen estimates), soil temperature and moisture regimes (STMRs; discrete classes defined by United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] Natural Resources Conservation Service [NRCS]), seasonal Thornthwaite moisture index (TMI; precipitation minus PET), and seasonality of TMI and soil moisture (30-meter rasters). Moisture values were estimated using our spatial implementation of the Newhall simulation model that relies on the Thornthwaite-Matter-Sellers potential evapotranspiration (PET) index. Among many enhancements, our application is the first known soil-climate model to include the effects of snow (for example, sublimation, snowmelt, attenuated evaporation, and insulation from air temperatures). Notably, we developed procedures that facilitate data substitution using spatial_nsm, supporting many use cases and flexibility, such as assessing projected climate scenarios. Our results provide evidence of the utility of spatially explicit soil-climate products, which could support subsequent use for modeling and managing ecosystem, habitat, and species distributions. For example, we demonstrated soil-climate properties had significant correlations with vegetation patterns: soil moisture variables predicted sagebrush (R^2 = 0.51), annual herbaceous plant cover (R^2 = 0.687), exposed soil (R^2 = 0.656), and fire occurrence (R^2 = 0.343). These statistical results suggested the data captured distributions of soil moisture and STMRs that can explain landscape and vegetation patterns. Refer to the Cross Reference section for all citations referenced in metadata supporting methods. This section also references our software used for developing these data products (nsm_spatial). Refer to the Larger Citation describing this project in full. Normal (1981 – 2010): Describes climate conditions averaged (temperature) or summed (precipitation) across 30-year climate period.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/b3037d8d4905c3ada657be06863f1030
Identifier USGS:62e97eacd34e749ac04cc15e
Data Last Modified 20221024
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id a64c3435-3733-4fa9-944d-32f0f182780f
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -121.0995,34.3797,-100.1504,51.3391
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash f663b8a950080fd34ae93eb77c84c0025489182729d19ec6f1b54517255405c9
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -121.0995, 34.3797, -121.0995, 51.3391, -100.1504, 51.3391, -100.1504, 34.3797, -121.0995, 34.3797}

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