The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Available soil moisture is thought to be the limiting factor for most ecosystem processes in the cold polar desert of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica. Previous studies have shown that microfauna throughout the MDVs are capable of biological activity when sufficient soil moisture is avai...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15123170 https://doaj.org/article/ee566d7e0ab34acb82617da39045d921 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ee566d7e0ab34acb82617da39045d921 2023-07-23T04:15:33+02:00 The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica Mark R. Salvatore John E. Barrett Laura E. Fackrell Eric R. Sokol Joseph S. Levy Lily C. Kuentz Michael N. Gooseff Byron J. Adams Sarah N. Power J. Paul Knightly Haley M. Matul Brian Szutu Peter T. Doran 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15123170 https://doaj.org/article/ee566d7e0ab34acb82617da39045d921 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/12/3170 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15123170 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/ee566d7e0ab34acb82617da39045d921 Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3170, p 3170 (2023) hydrology soil moisture remote sensing dry valleys ecology Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15123170 2023-07-02T00:37:11Z Available soil moisture is thought to be the limiting factor for most ecosystem processes in the cold polar desert of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica. Previous studies have shown that microfauna throughout the MDVs are capable of biological activity when sufficient soil moisture is available (~2–10% gravimetric water content), but few studies have attempted to quantify the distribution, abundance, and frequency of soil moisture on scales beyond that of traditional field work or local field investigations. In this study, we present our work to quantify the soil moisture content of soils throughout the Fryxell basin using multispectral satellite remote sensing techniques. Our efforts demonstrate that ecologically relevant abundances of liquid water are common across the landscape throughout the austral summer. On average, the Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley is modeled as containing 1.5 ± 0.5% gravimetric water content (GWC) across its non-fluvial landscape with ~23% of the landscape experiencing an average GWC > 2% throughout the study period, which is the observed limit of soil nematode activity. These results indicate that liquid water in the soils of the MDVs may be more abundant than previously thought, and that the distribution and availability of liquid water is dependent on both soil properties and the distribution of water sources. These results can also help to identify ecological hotspots in the harsh polar Antarctic environment and serve as a baseline for detecting future changes in the soil hydrological regime. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys polar desert Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Austral Fryxell ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) Remote Sensing 15 12 3170 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
hydrology soil moisture remote sensing dry valleys ecology Science Q |
spellingShingle |
hydrology soil moisture remote sensing dry valleys ecology Science Q Mark R. Salvatore John E. Barrett Laura E. Fackrell Eric R. Sokol Joseph S. Levy Lily C. Kuentz Michael N. Gooseff Byron J. Adams Sarah N. Power J. Paul Knightly Haley M. Matul Brian Szutu Peter T. Doran The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
hydrology soil moisture remote sensing dry valleys ecology Science Q |
description |
Available soil moisture is thought to be the limiting factor for most ecosystem processes in the cold polar desert of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica. Previous studies have shown that microfauna throughout the MDVs are capable of biological activity when sufficient soil moisture is available (~2–10% gravimetric water content), but few studies have attempted to quantify the distribution, abundance, and frequency of soil moisture on scales beyond that of traditional field work or local field investigations. In this study, we present our work to quantify the soil moisture content of soils throughout the Fryxell basin using multispectral satellite remote sensing techniques. Our efforts demonstrate that ecologically relevant abundances of liquid water are common across the landscape throughout the austral summer. On average, the Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley is modeled as containing 1.5 ± 0.5% gravimetric water content (GWC) across its non-fluvial landscape with ~23% of the landscape experiencing an average GWC > 2% throughout the study period, which is the observed limit of soil nematode activity. These results indicate that liquid water in the soils of the MDVs may be more abundant than previously thought, and that the distribution and availability of liquid water is dependent on both soil properties and the distribution of water sources. These results can also help to identify ecological hotspots in the harsh polar Antarctic environment and serve as a baseline for detecting future changes in the soil hydrological regime. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mark R. Salvatore John E. Barrett Laura E. Fackrell Eric R. Sokol Joseph S. Levy Lily C. Kuentz Michael N. Gooseff Byron J. Adams Sarah N. Power J. Paul Knightly Haley M. Matul Brian Szutu Peter T. Doran |
author_facet |
Mark R. Salvatore John E. Barrett Laura E. Fackrell Eric R. Sokol Joseph S. Levy Lily C. Kuentz Michael N. Gooseff Byron J. Adams Sarah N. Power J. Paul Knightly Haley M. Matul Brian Szutu Peter T. Doran |
author_sort |
Mark R. Salvatore |
title |
The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_short |
The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_full |
The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture over Space and Time in Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_sort |
distribution of surface soil moisture over space and time in eastern taylor valley, antarctica |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15123170 https://doaj.org/article/ee566d7e0ab34acb82617da39045d921 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral Fryxell McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral Fryxell McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys polar desert |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys polar desert |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3170, p 3170 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/12/3170 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15123170 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/ee566d7e0ab34acb82617da39045d921 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15123170 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
3170 |
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1772176416825147392 |