National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network

(a) In general The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall support the development, deployment, and maintenance of soil moisture monitoring networks by managing the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (in this section referred to as the Network) within the National Integrated Drought Information System. (b) Activities The Under Secretary shall ensure the Network includes activities that carry out the following: (1) Establishing a visible, user-friendly website. (2) Developing a set of criteria for high-quality data sources. (3) Supporting research necessary to develop or improve soil moisture monitoring products at a national scale. (4) Increasing the number of long-term, high-quality, in situ and remote sensing soil moisture monitoring stations across the United States. (5) Sharing methodologies and validation protocols with the private sector. (6) Developing, releasing, and promoting new nationwide point-based and gridded soil moisture data products. (7) Supporting community, outreach, and data sharing to the network of individuals engaged with soil moisture monitoring, from data collection to end-user decision making.