A network of soil moisture, soil temperature, air temperature, net radiation, ground heat flux and ground water for Chicago, Illinois

Dataset · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2026

DOI:https://doi.org/10.15485/3013901· OSTI ID:3013901

Berkelhammer, Max ^[1]; Kaludi, Bilal ^[1]; Lee, Jangho ^[1]; Collis, Scott ^[2]; Muradyan, Paytsar ^[2]; O'Brien, Joseph ^[2]; Grover, Maxwell ^[2]; Tuftedal, Matthew ^[2]; Cho, Ahram ^[1]; Vincent, Anna ^[3]; Gala, Tekleab ^[4]; Gonzalez-Meler, Miquel ^[1]; Miller, William ^[3]; Anderson, Gregory ^[5]; Packman, Aaron ^[3]; Negri, Cristina ^[2]; McNicol, Gavin ^[1]

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1. University of Illinois Chicago
2. Argonne National Laboratory
3. Northwestern University
4. Chicago State University
5. Northeastern Illinois University

This dataset contains environmental monitoring data collected using solar-powered Multi-Function Research (MFR) Long Range Wide Area (LoRaWAN)-enabled nodes at 11 sites in Chicago, Illinois, as part of the DOE Urban Integrated Field Lab CROCUS project. The MFR node system consists of an Input/Output Digital Input Module (IB8) interface box (ICT International) providing wired connections for environmental sensors and an MFR-Node-L data logger that manages power, data processing, and LoRaWAN communication. The wireless data are ingested via Sage network (https://sagecontinuum.org/) nodes that contain LoRaWAN antennae. Measurements were collected from 11 MFR nodes deployed across Chicago State University (CSU), Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), Northwestern University (NU), University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), West Woodlawn "Blacks in Green" (BIG), and Indian Boundary Prairies (IBP). Each MFR node supports a consistent suite of sensors measuring atmospheric, soil, and hydrological variables. Atmospheric measurements include 2m air temperature (°C), 2m vapor pressure deficit (kPa), and 2m shortwave/longwave radiation (incoming and outgoing, W/m²) measured using ATH-VPD and Apogee SN500 sensors. Soil measurements include volumetric water content (VWC, %) and temperature (°C) at four depths (15, 30, 45, and 60 cm below surface) using Meter Teros54 sensors, and heat flux (W/m²) at 10 cm depth using Huske HFP01-05 sensors. At selected locations, Meter Hydros21 sensors measure groundwater depth (mm), specific conductivity (dS/m), and temperature (°C). The dataset includes timestamps, site identifiers with location names, device IDs, Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, variable names with units, measurement depths, values, sensor names, and Sage node identifiers. All timestamps are in local Chicago time (CDT/CST). Quality control flags are provided using a 6-bit binary system indicating physical range violations, step spikes, 24-hour flat-line conditions, 6-hour jitter, 7-day ultra-low variance, and persistent high offset. Data is provided in CSV and CF-compliant NetCDF formats. This dataset is part of a larger collection of CROCUS environmental monitoring data, including linked datasets from Air Quality Transmitter (AQT) sensors, Weather Transmitter (WXT) sensors, and Sap Flow Meter (SFM1x) sensors.

• Research Organization: Community Research on Climate and Urban Science Urban Integrated Field Laboratory (CROCUS UIFL)
• Sponsoring Organization: ESS-DIVE; U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 3013901
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Chicago
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > HEAT FLUX
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > NET RADIATION
EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE TEMPERATURE > AIR TEMPERATURE
EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
EARTH SCIENCE > TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE > GROUND WATER > GROUNDWATER CHEMISTRY
Ecohydrology
Groundwater
Heat Island
Net radiation
Soil moisture
Urban
vapor pressure deficit