Development of High-Resolution Soil Moisture Product for India, 1981-2024

Reliable soil moisture records are vital for drought assessment and agricultural planning in monsoon-driven and irrigation-intensive regions such as India. Existing satellite products like SMAP and SMOS have advanced global monitoring but remain constrained by short data spans, shallow penetration depth, and reduced accuracy in vegetated or irrigated areas. To address these gaps, we developed a high-resolution (0.05°) daily root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) dataset for 1981–2024. The dataset was generated using a hybrid framework that combines simulations from the calibrated H08 land surface model with SMAP RZSM through grid-wise Random Forest regression. By merging physical modeling with satellite observations, this dataset provides improved spatial detail, extended temporal coverage, and enhanced reliability, supporting applications in drought monitoring, hydrological modeling, and agricultural risk assessment.