Underground Sensors, NASA Satellites: Improved Drought Tracking. New Course of Action.

Hill Country has a series of brand new underground sensors operated by The Texas Soil Observation Network (TxSON), run by the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences.

The underground sensors are connected to NASA’s new Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite, which was launched Jan. 31.

Why are the underground sensors and satellites important?

• We’ll know how much water is in the soil in Texas
• NASA will have more data for better weather forecasting
• TX has ZERO knowledge of soil moisture levels according to  Ron Anderson, chief engineer of water resources with the Lower Colorado River Authority which determines:
  • when reservoirs get filled
  • whether there will be flash floods

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