Conversion soil water content from m3/m3 to mm.
Some satelite soil moisture (SM) data measured in m3/m3.
How can I convert this SM data into mm?
The soil moisture calculations in percentages on a weight basis have been commonly used, but this does not give a true pictures of soil-moisture relationships. Two soils may have similar moisture content on a weight basis but not a volume basis. Calculations on a volume basis are more meaningful and practical because water is retained in the soil within a given volume and plant roots also absorb moisture from a volume of soil. % moisture by volume = % moisture in soil by weight x bulk density of the soil
When calculated say for a depth of 12 inches, this volume indicates water in inches per foot depth. On a hectare basis, this value written as hectare inches per hectare foot of soil.
In general, m3/m3 can be converted to 1000 mm of water if 1mm of water content is defined as 1mm of water drawn from 1m deep soil.
The soil moisture calculations in percentages on a weight basis have been commonly used, but this does not give a true pictures of soil-moisture relationships. Two soils may have similar moisture content on a weight basis but not a volume basis. Calculations on a volume basis are more meaningful and practical because water is retained in the soil within a given volume and plant roots also absorb moisture from a volume of soil. % moisture by volume = % moisture in soil by weight x bulk density of the soil
When calculated say for a depth of 12 inches, this volume indicates water in inches per foot depth. On a hectare basis, this value written as hectare inches per hectare foot of soil.
In general, m3/m3 can be converted to 1000 mm of water if 1mm of water content is defined as 1mm of water drawn from 1m deep soil.
In addition to the excellent answer of @J.C.Tarafdar, I would like to add a simple equation (I feel you like so), assuming the moisture content is per meter per unit area.
then if you have a ratio of moisture in m3/m3 Then multiply by 1000 to achieve the value in mm as you requested, which is a short unit of the following "mm water per meter depth of soil per unit area".
If you are dealing with root depth, say of 35 cm, (350 mm), then convert the m3/m3 by multiplying by the 350 instead of 1000, thus the mm unit is equivalent to "mm water per 35 cm depth of soil per unit area".
hope this helps.
Dear Sir: I am using AMSR2 Satellite data , for Soil Moisture. The values are in percentage which is between 0 to 99%. How to convert soil moisture which is volumetric soil moisture given by AMSR2 into mm.
If I multiply by 100 as suggested then it goes to 990mm . But my Can the soil moisture contents be up to this value
Hi,
I want to convert m3/m3 soil moisture ERA-5 data for top 5 cm soil layer to cm or mm. So this means to multiply volumetric soil moisture by 5cm(50mm) ?
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