Soil Temperature, under sod (10 cm)

The average temperature at a depth of 10 centimeters below the ground during a 15-minute interval; the surface is vegetated.

• Thermistor probes sheathed in stainless steel (prior to December 2013) or thermocouple sensor (December 2013 and afterward) are buried horizontally in undisturbed ground. Because the cables connecting the thermistors to the tower might conduct surface heat and divert draining rainwater, they were buried deeper than the thermistors, then angled upward.
• This soil temperature reading can be very important to the vast acreage of rangeland across the state, as well as for planting decisions under reduced or no-tillage systems, for soil condition monitoring under a crop canopy, and for industries such as turfgrass.