Role of time variant and invariant terms on soil moisture spatio-temporal variability in a subhumid coastal wetland

The knowledge of soil moisture spatio-temporal variability is highly relevant for water resources management. This paper reports an analysis of the spatial–temporal variability of soil moisture data for a small to medium-scale soil-sensors network in a coastal wetland of southwestern Spain. Measurements were taken from five sites located in the Doñana National Park over the time-period of one hydrological year from September 2017 to September 2018. The total area of the soil-sensors network shows an extension about 25 × 3 km. Soil moisture data was separated into time invariant (the temporal mean of the whole period at each site) and time-variant terms (the deviations of soil moisture from the mean, or anomalies). The time-invariant component was generally the main contributor to the total spatial variance of soil moisture and it was mostly controlled by the groundwater levels in the area. Nevertheless, the time variant terms have a huge effect on soil moisture variability in very dry states. Characteristic convex time-dependent patterns for this field site were found between spatially averaged soil moisture and its variability. This information could be used for the up and downscaling of soil moisture from satellite data. Those patterns of relation between spatial mean and variability of soil moisture were only affected by heavy rainfalls giving rise to hysteretic behaviour. This study shows that even though groundwater level is a time-variant variable, it significantly affects soil moisture's time-variant but also time-invariant terms due to the different average groundwater level depths at the different sites.