Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has become an effective method to measure soil moisture at a horizontal scale of hundreds of metres and a depth of decimetres. Recent studies proposed operating CRNS in a network with overlapping footprints in order to cover root-zone water dynamics at the small catchment scale and, at the same time, to represent spatial heterogeneity. In a joint field campaign from September to November 2020 (JFC-2020), five German research institutions deployed 15 CRNS sensors in the 0.4 km² Wüstebach catchment (Eifel mountains, Germany). The catchment is dominantly forested (but includes a substantial fraction of open vegetation) and features a topographically distinct catchment boundary. In addition to the dense CRNS coverage, the campaign featured a unique combination of additional instruments and techniques: hydro-gravimetry (to detect water storage dynamics also below the root zone); ground-based and, for the first time, airborne CRNS roving; an extensive wireless soil sensor network, supplemented by manual measurements; and six weighable lysimeters. Together with comprehensive data from the long-term local research infrastructure, the published data set (available at https://doi.org/10.23728/b2share.756ca0485800474e9dc7f5949c63b872; Heistermann et al., 2022) will be a valuable asset in various research contexts: to advance the retrieval of landscape water storage from CRNS, wireless soil sensor networks, or hydrogravimetry; to identify scale-specific combinations of sensors and methods to represent soil moisture variability; to improve the understanding and simulation of land–atmosphere exchange as well as hydrological and hydrogeological processes at the hillslope and the catchment scale; and to support the retrieval of soil water content from airborne and spaceborne remote sensing platforms.

中文翻译：

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森林源头流域的土壤水分观测：在 TERENO 的 Wüstebach 站点将密集的宇宙射线中子传感器网络与漫游和水文重力测量相结合

宇宙射线中子传感（CRNS）已成为在数百米水平尺度和分米深度测量土壤水分的有效方法。最近的研究建议在具有重叠足迹的网络中运行 CRNS，以涵盖小流域规模的根区水动态，同时代表空间异质性。在 2020 年 9 月至 11 月（JFC-2020）的联合实地行动中，五家德国研究机构在 0.4 km ^{2范围内部署了 15 个 CRNS 传感器}Wüstebach 集水区（德国埃菲尔山脉）。集水区主要是森林（但包括很大一部分开放植被），并具有地形独特的集水区边界。除了密集的 CRNS 覆盖范围之外，该活动还采用了其他仪器和技术的独特组合：水力重力测量法（也用于检测根区以下的蓄水动态）；陆基和首次机载 CRNS 漫游；广泛的无线土壤传感器网络，辅以手动测量；和六个可称重的蒸渗仪。连同来自长期本地研究基础设施的综合数据，已发布的数据集（可在 https://doi.org/10.23728/b2share.756ca0485800474e9dc7f5949c63b872 获得；Heistermann 等人，2022) 将成为各种研究背景下的宝贵资产：促进从 CRNS、无线土壤传感器网络或水文重力测量中检索景观蓄水；确定特定尺度的传感器和方法组合，以表示土壤水分变异性；提高对陆气交换以及山坡和流域尺度的水文和水文地质过程的理解和模拟；并支持从机载和星载遥感平台反演土壤含水量。