Variability of soil moisture near flux towers in the BOREAS southern study area

Soil moisture measurements, using an airborne gamma radiation system, were collected over the southern BOREAS study area in Saskatchewan, Canada, during 1993 and 1994. Results of microscale analyses of the soil moisture measurements near four flux towers established in different boreal forest areas (old aspen, old black spruce, old jack pine, and young aspen) are presented. Included is information on the spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture of the mineral soil in the vicinity of each tower site and estimates of the water content in overlaying moss/humus layers. For the old black spruce site, estimates are presented of the change in the amount of standing water from September 1993, when there was considerable standing water, to September 1994, when the area had completely dried out and no standing water was observed.