The International Soil Moisture Network

The International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) is international cooperation to establish and maintain an open-source global data hosting facility, providing in situ soil moisture data as well as accompanying soil variables. This database is an essential means for validating and improving global satellite soil moisture products as well as land surface -, climate-, and hydrological models. The ultimate goal of the ISMN is to provide a system for the dissemination of quality-controlled and harmonized soil moisture measurements from various ground validation campaigns and operational networks. 

However, the intention of the ISMN is to go beyond the role of satellite validation resource and to serve other scientific and applicationoriented communities as well, such as hydrological modeling, numerical weather forecasting, and water management. To fulfill this task, the ISMN stores not only surface soil moisture but also soil water content of the deeper layers and relevant hydrometeorological variables such as precipitation and temperature of the air and soil