Data-driven approaches to linking soil moisture and soil carbon

Soil moisture has a close relationship with soil carbon. The carbon content of soil affects the response of the moisture content to meteorological input; the moisture content of soil affects the amount and type of respiration that can occur. This work seeks to elucidate this relationship by building a predictive data-driven model of soil moisture using data from the COSMOS-UK sensor network and using it as a predictor of soil organic carbon. We roll this model out across the UK and compare results to the Countryside Survey carbon map. Further, using flux tower observations of night time net ecosystem exchange (of CO2), a model linking soil moisture to respiration is created and used to propose functional forms for respiration in land surface models.