Impact on standards and technical guidance

SoMMet developed reference methods, calibration and validation procedures, uncertainty approaches and good-practice guidance relevant to organisations working on soil-quality standards, meteorological observations and metrological coordination. The project did not itself establish or revise formal standards, but its results can provide evidence and technical input for future work.

Standards for soil moisture and soil quality

SoMMet results are relevant to the work undertaken within the following European and international standardisation committees:

  • CEN/TC 444/WG 5 – European Committee for Standardization, Technical Committee 444 on environmental characterisation of solid matrices, Working Group 5 on physical tests
  • ISO/TC 190/WG 1 – International Organization for Standardization, Technical Committee 190 on soil quality, Working Group 1 on soil and climate change
  • ISO/TC 190/SC 3 – International Organization for Standardization, Technical Committee 190 on soil quality, Subcommittee 3 on chemical and physical characterisation

An international standard relevant to SoMMet is ISO 11461:2001, Soil quality — Determination of soil water content as a volume fraction using coring sleeves — Gravimetric method. As the standard predates SoMMet, it provided an established methodological reference for the project’s work.

A revised edition is currently under development as ISO/DIS 11461. Findings from SoMMet—particularly those concerning reference methods, metrological traceability, uncertainty evaluation and soil sampling—can provide technical input to the standardisation experts involved in this revision and in related future activities.

Meteorological observations and technical guidance

SoMMet results are also relevant to the work of the following bodies of the World Meteorological Organization:

  • WMO SC-MINT – Standing Committee on Measurements, Instrumentation and Traceability
  • WMO INFCOM – Infrastructure Commission

The project's results concerning traceability, calibration, uncertainty evaluation and the harmonisation of soil moisture measurements across spatial scales can support the continuing development of guidance for CRNS and other soil moisture measurement methods. This includes potential contributions to future revisions of the WMO Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No. 8).

European metrology coordination

Within EURAMET, the project's results are particularly relevant to:

  • EURAMET TC-T – Technical Committee for Thermometry

The committee's remit includes temperature, humidity and moisture measurement, standards and reference materials. SoMMet contributed soil-specific methods, transfer standards and calibration approaches to this broader field of European moisture metrology. The relationship with EURAMET Project 1400 is described in more detail under Impact on metrological and scientific communities.

Future incorporation of the results

The formal incorporation of SoMMet results into international standards or official technical guidance will depend on the work programmes, technical evaluation and approval procedures of the respective organisations.