October 1 is the start of the water year. Since our growing season ends roughly around this time, any precipitation that falls afterwards will go toward recharging soil moisture for the next growing season. The featured chart displays the yearly cycle of root zone soil moisture as estimated by the Iowa Daily Erosion Project. The black line represents the simple average of all the years plotted. Moisture levels start to increase this time of year showing the recharge of soil moisture taking place as there is no longer a crop depleting it. The most substantial recharge takes place during the spring time as rainfall events are more intense and the soil is not frozen.

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Tags:   idep   soilmoisture