The integrated water balance and soil data set of the Rollesbroich hydrological observatory

• Published in: Earth system science data Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 517 - 529
• Main Authors: Qu, Wei, Bogena, Heye R, Huisman, Johan A, Schmidt, Marius, Kunkel, Ralf, Weuthen, Ansgar, Schiedung, Henning, Schilling, Bernd, Sorg, Jürgen, Vereecken, Harry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 20.10.2016; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Air temperature; Catchment area; Catchment areas; Catchments; Covariance; Data assimilation; Data collection; Datasets; Discharge measurement; Dynamics; Eddy covariance; Evapotranspiration; Evapotranspiration measurements; Fluxes; Gaging; Gaging stations; Headwater catchments; Headwaters; Heat; High resolution; Humidity; Hydrologic models; Hydrology; Meteorological data; Moisture content; Observatories; Physical properties; Precipitation; Procedures; Radiation; Remote sensing; Runoff; Sensors; Soil; Soil dynamics; Soil moisture; Soil physical properties; Soil properties; Soil temperature; Soil water; Soils; Stream discharge; Terrestrial environments; Time series; Vegetation; Vortices; Water balance; Water balance (Hydrology); Water content; Wind speed; Wireless sensor networks; United States > US; Germany
• ISSN: 1866-3516; 1866-3508; 1866-3516
• DOI: 10.5194/essd-8-517-2016

The Rollesbroich headwater catchment located in western Germany is a densely instrumented hydrological observatory and part of the TERENO (Terrestrial Environmental Observatories) initiative. The measurements acquired in this observatory present a comprehensive data set that contains key hydrological fluxes in addition to important hydrological states and properties. Meteorological data (i.e., precipitation, air temperature, air humidity, radiation components, and wind speed) are continuously recorded and actual evapotranspiration is measured using the eddy covariance technique. Runoff is measured at the catchment outlet with a gauging station. In addition, spatiotemporal variations in soil water content and temperature are measured at high resolution with a wireless sensor network (SoilNet). Soil physical properties were determined using standard laboratory procedures from samples taken at a large number of locations in the catchment. This comprehensive data set can be used to validate remote sensing retrievals and hydrological models, to improve the understanding of spatial temporal dynamics of soil water content, to optimize data assimilation and inverse techniques for hydrological models, and to develop upscaling and downscaling procedures of soil water content information. The complete data set is freely available online (http://www.tereno.net, doi:10.5880/TERENO.2016.001, doi:10.5880/TERENO.2016.004, doi:10.5880/TERENO.2016.003) and additionally referenced by three persistent identifiers securing the long-term data and metadata availability.