Soil moisture levels slightly above normal in mid-May
Send a link to a friend
[May 16, 2013]
CHAMPAIGN -- Soil moisture
levels are slightly above normal in Illinois for the middle of May,
according to Jennie Atkins, manager of the Water and Atmospheric
Resources Monitoring program, known as WARM, at the Prairie Research
Institute, Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois.
|
Soil moisture levels at 2 inches averaged 0.33 water fraction by
volume across the state on May 13, or 13 percent above normal.
Moisture levels were highest in the south, with an average of 0.41
water fraction by volume, or 22 percent above normal.
Higher moisture levels were also measured at deeper depths,
averaging 0.40 to 0.44 water fraction by volume at depths from 19 to
59 inches.
Soil temperatures for May 13 were slightly below normal at depths
of 4 inches below bare soil, averaging 60 degrees F, or 4 degrees
below normal. The highest temperatures were measured in southern
Illinois, where temperatures averaged 60.7 degrees. Temperatures
averaged 60.3 and 58.3 degrees in central and southern Illinois,
respectively.
[to top of second column] |
The Illinois State Water Survey's WARM program collects hourly
and daily weather and soil information at 19 stations across the
state. Daily and monthly summaries are available at the WARM
website,
http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/, and in the Illinois Water
and Climate Summary,
http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/climate.asp.
Maps of soil temperatures and moisture levels can also be found
at the WARM website,
http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/soiltemp.asp.
The Illinois State Water Survey at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie Research Institute, is
the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and atmospheric
resources.
[Text from file received from
the Illinois
State Water Survey]
|