The Effect of the Air Temperature on Soil Moisture in the Middle East

Soil moisture and related hydrological process play an important role in regional and global climates. However, largescale and long-term observation of soil moisture is sparse. In this study, the latest European Center for Media-Range Weather Fvrcasts (ECMWF) data ERA-15 Model is used ·to calculate the monthly means of soil moisture for four cities in the Middle East (Baghdad, Beirut, Dubai, and Riyadh). Results showed that the soil moisture is inversely propmiional for Baghdad, Beirut, and Riyadh, while it is almost independent of temperature for Dubai city. The results also indicated that Baghdad has the highest soil moisture compared with the other three cities. Dubai and Beirut has relatively lower soil moisture.