News timeline
Bonner spheres of PTB at Marquardt
On 18 June 2025, the PTB team deployed their newly developed Bonner sphere spectrometer NEMUS-UMW at the Marquardt test field site to conduct long-term reference neutron measurements.
Bonner spheres of ASNR at Bondeno
During the week beginning 31 March 2025, SoMMet partner ASNR (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire et de radioprotection – the French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection) performed reference neutron measurements at the Bondeno test field site in northern Italy.
Training event in hybrid mode
On 22 January 2025, the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) organised a hybrid training event on metrology for soil moisture measurement at multiple scales, with the help of other SoMMet partners. The event covered the underlying physics principles.
M27 progress meeting
The M27 progress meeting took place at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) in Taastrup near Copenhagen, Denmark on 20 and 21 January 2025.
Measurement campaign with CRNS rover
During the week beginning 23 September 2024, teams from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig and the National Research Council (CNR) in Italy performed a measurement campaign at the Apulian Tavoliere test field site. UFZ's mobile CRNS rover was used to assess the soil moisture pattern within a large area that would otherwise be inaccessible to a single stationary CRNS sensor. The data collected with the CRNS rover will enable systematic comparison with measurements carried out using point-scale soil moisture sensors and soil sampling.
Commercial CRNS sensor installed
On 18 July 2024, the CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) team installed a commercial CRNS Hydroinnova CRS1000 sensor at the Apulian Tavoliere test field site. This sensor had previously been modelled and characterised in the neutron reference fields of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). The newly collected outdoor neutron data will make it possible to assess soil moisture dynamics on a field scale. This will be compared with a series of satellite-based soil moisture data.
SoMMet project in Berlin
The SoMMet project was presented at the 'Woche der Umwelt' (Week of Environment) event in Berlin on 4 and 5 June 2024. The event hosted around 190 exhibitors from scientific institutions, research centres, and R&D companies, who presented innovative solutions for environmental protection, climate change adaptation, sustainability, and biodiversity conservation. Around 12,000 people attended the event.
Joint neutron beamtime at PTB
During the week beginning 11 March 2024, SoMMet partners came together for the second part of the experimental campaign carried out in February, in which commercial CRNS sensors were irradiated with "artificial", well-defined neutrons at the PTB Ion Accelerator Facility (PIAF).
Visit of Bondeno test field site
On 23 February 2024, the SoMMet partners visited the Bondeno test field site.
M18 progress meeting
The M18 progress meeting was held at the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in Italy on 21 and 22 February 2024.
Neutron beamtime at PTB
Commercial CRNS sensors, which are designed to measure natural neutron radiation in the environment, were irradiated for the first time with "artificial", well-defined neutrons at the PTB Ion Accelerator Facility (PIAF).
Online: Meeting with soil moisture experts
On 27 June and 30 June 2023 (two half-days), the SoMMet partners met with experts dealing with soil moisture measurements on different scales, such as soil scientists, hydrologists, meteorologists and experts working on retrieving soil moisture data products from satellite missions. The needs for metrology were discussed and the outcome of these discussions was used to refine the project objectives.
Technical visit at CNR
On 16 June 2023, the SoMMet partners undertook a technical visit. A partner from the University of Potsdam (UP DE), Germany, visited the outdoor facilities of CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) in the Apulia region of Italy. Information was exchanged and joint hands-on exercises were carried out on the installation of soil moisture sensors, the treatment of data and the interpretation of data.
Online: M9 progress meeting
On 7 June and 26 June 2023, the M9 progress meeting of SoMMet was held online over two half-days. The partners reviewed the progress achieved until Month 9 since the project start, and discussed and planned activities for the coming 6 months.
CRNS sensor installation at Apulian Tavoliere site
On 4 April 2023, the CRNS sensor W-PIE (Wedding PIE), developed by project partner Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi), was installed at Apulian Tavoliere, a test field site operated by partner Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR).
Online: Mutual training and meeting with Stakeholders
On 21 February 2022, the SoMMet meeting was held online to facilitate mutual training between metrology and non-metrology experts. The meeting began with a presentation of the fundamental principles of metrology, followed by a discussion of the open problems of soil moisture measurement and monitoring, which highlighted the need for metrology. The meeting was open to experts from stakeholder communities outside the SoMMet Consortium. In total, around 65 people participated in the event.
Online: Meeting on impact
The SoMMet meeting dedicated to Work Package 5 "Creating Impact", was held online on 12 January 2023. All project partners discussed activities aimed at disseminating and communicating the project's results, as well as plans to maximise its impact.
Visit of Marquardt test field site
On 13 October 2022, the SoMMet partners visited the Marqaurdt test field site.
Kick-off meeting
The Kick-off meeting of SoMMet took place on 11 and 12 October 2022 at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Germany.
