Surface soil moisture and elevation in the Blind Beck subcatchment of the River Eden, Cumbria

Spatial distributions of surface soil moisture and topography were measured at ten plots of approximately 50 m by 50 m in the Blind Beck subcatchment (8.8 sq.km) of the River Eden. Plots were categorised into 3 levels of slope (H=high > 8 degrees; M=medium 2-8 degrees; L=low < 2 degrees) and 2 levels of land use (P=pasture; W=woodland). Measurements were made once at each plot (twice at plots 2 and 8) between September 2007 and November 2008. The project objective was to identify saturated areas in the Blind Beck catchment and see which landscape features contributed to saturation. Data was collected by M.Ockenden for PhD project supervised by CEH and Lancaster University.