Evaluation of Deterministic Models for Near Surface Soil Moisture Prediction

The prediction of environmental factors such as soil moisture, soil strength etc., at a reasonably coarse scale (e.g. 0.2 - 25 km) with limited input data is the prime objective of this research project. This is a first attempt to be made at this scale, as previous models have tended to concentrate at the hillslope or very large scales. The main objectives have been detailed in the Third and fifth Interim Reports. a) to develop peripheral subroutines for application of our scheme to route management problems; b) to set up appropriate field trials as a method of verification and validation of our scheme; and c) to further develop the operational aspects of the scheme with respect to problem areas where more detailed information is required than could be supplied by our scheme alone. The scope of this report is: 1) to detail the development of applied trafficability packages; and (sections 2,3,4, and 7), 2) to discuss the use of DRIVEB as a possible validation technique.