The seasons with the largest negative anomalies were the spring and the summer, which both had the third largest negative
soil moisture anomaly for the respective season in the ERA - Interim record, while regionally autumn showed the largest anomalies.
Bottom row left: Annual
soil moisture anomaly for 2017 relative to the annual average for the period 1981 - 2010.
Soil moisture anomaly for winter, spring, summer and autumn 2017 relative to the respective seasonal average for the period 1981 - 2010 for ERA - Interim (left) and for the period 1991 - 2016 for C3S satellite soil moisture (right).
Average spring (March - May 2017)
soil moisture anomaly, from left to right ERA - Interim relative to the 1982 - 2010 average, ERA - Interim relative to the 1991 - 2016 average and C3S satellite soil moisture product relative to 1991 - 2016.
By autumn a large
soil moisture anomaly remained in the whole region and according to the estimates from both products, further increased both in amplitude and extended further south of the Baltic Sea.
As an example, Hohenegger et al (2009) investigated the triggering of precipitation in response to
soil moisture anomalies with a set of regional models ranging in physical formulation and resolution.
Seasonal European
soil moisture anomalies for spring 1979 to autumn 2017 relative to the respective seasonal average for the period 1981 - 2010.
This means that
the soil moisture anomalies of deeper layers are quite strongly correlated with those of the top 7 cm.
Top row: Annual European
soil moisture anomalies from 1979 to 2017, relative to the annual average for the period 1981 - 2010.
During winter only a small region with large positive
soil moisture anomalies is found to the southeast of the Baltic Sea.
The image shows
soil moisture anomalies in the United States and the Gulf of Mexico for the last 10 days of August 2017.
Not exact matches
«[N] o attempt was made to include
soil moisture, snow cover
anomalies, or vegetation health» in the models that NOAA used to reach its conclusions, Trenberth wrote.
Anomalies and percentiles of
soil moisture for different timescales.
Maps show most recent daily, monthly and 12 - month calculated
soil moisture,
anomalies and percentiles.
Depending on the region, the persistence from spring to summer of
soil moisture or snow
anomalies generated during spring by temperature and precipitation variations may explain river flows variations in summer, when no concomitant climate variations exist.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air and the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil for March 2017 to February 2018 with respect to 1981 - 2010.
Anomalies relative to 1981 - 2010 in precipitation rate (mm / day) from ERA - Interim, JRA - 55 and GPCC, two - metre relative humidity (%) from ERA - Interim and JRA - 55, and the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil from ERA - Interim, for December 2016.
The four months to February 2018 for SW Europe had the second largest negative
anomaly in
soil moisture and relative humidity in this record.
The ERA - Interim analyses of
soil moisture are included in the monthly summaries to provide a qualitative picture of major
anomalies and to show the consistency with other variables.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for SW Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to March 2018.
The four months to March 2018 for SE Europe also showed negative
anomalies for both relative humidity and
soil moisture.
The monthly
anomalies in
soil moisture from ERA - Interim exhibit patterns that are mostly similar to those of precipitation and relative humidity.
Soil moisture is included in the monthly summaries to provide a qualitative picture of the major
anomalies and to show its consistency with the other variables.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature for February 2018 with respect to February averages for the period 1981 - 2010.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for NE Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to March 2018.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air and the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil for April 2017 to March 2018 with respect to 1981 - 2010.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for SW Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to February 2018.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature for April 2017 to March 2018 with respect to 1981 - 2010.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature for March 2018 with respect to March averages for the period 1981 - 2010.
This change only affects the absolute magnitudes of
soil moisture values, not the sign of the
anomalies.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for NW Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to February 2018.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature for March 2017 to February 2018 with respect to 1981 - 2010.
The four months to January 2018 for SE Europe also showed large negative
anomalies for both relative humidity and
soil moisture.
This positive
anomaly is not present in the C3S satellite
soil moisture product.
The
anomalies from the C3S satellite
soil moisture product are defined with respect to a shorter and more recent reference period than ERA - Interim
anomalies.
The ERA - Interim analyses of
soil moisture are included here to provide a qualitative picture of major
anomalies and to show the consistency with other variables.
The higher resolution of E-OBS shows a large positive precipitation
anomaly over the Alps and the satellite
soil moisture product shows above average
soil moisture for a larger region than ERA - Interim.
The
anomalies have units of mm / day for precipitation and % for relative humidity and volumetric
soil moisture.
For the C3S satellite
soil moisture record the
anomaly is calculated with respect to 1991 - 2016.
They then matched their maps of temperature
anomalies and
soil moisture change against maps of gross domestic product per head of population, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for NE Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to April 2018.
The four months to April 2018 for NW Europe had above - average
anomalies in rainfall and
soil moisture, but close to average values for other indicators.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature for April 2018 with respect to April averages for the period 1981 - 2010.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for NW Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to April 2018.
The four months to April 2018 for SE Europe also showed negative
anomalies for both relative humidity and
soil moisture.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for SE Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to April 2018.
Running four - month averages of
anomalies over land areas for SW Europe with respect to 1981 - 2010 for precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature, based on monthly values from January 1979 to April 2018.
Anomalies in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air, the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil and surface air temperature for May 2017 to April 2018 with respect to 1981 - 2010.
Anomaly in precipitation, the relative humidity of surface air and the volumetric
moisture content of the top 7 cm of
soil for April 2018 with respect to April averages for the period 1981 - 2010.