From Points to Field Scale: A Decade of Soil‐Moisture Monitoring in a German Deciduous Forest (2014–2024)

Long-term, spatially representative soil-moisture records are critical for characterising ecosystem responses to water availability. We present a decade-long (2014–2024) dataset of continuous soil-moisture observations from distributed in situ networks and cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) across a 1 ha temperate deciduous forest in Germany. Spatial sensor coverage varied over time and challenged the derivation of a consistent spatial average due to the persistence of soil moisture patterns. We therefore implemented a semi-automatic workflow that (i) identifies reference periods via a bootstrap-based minimum required number of sensors (MRNS) and (ii) maps point measurements to the field-scale distribution using empirical CDF transformation. The resulting record provides a coherent long-term signal suitable for ecohydrological analyses and validation of remote-sensing products. Since any decade-scale monitoring will encounter sensor losses and replacements, we emphasise the critical role of robust data integration techniques to ensure the reliability of extended soil moisture datasets.