Check that the location of the crosshairs matches your location. If not, drag the crosshairs to the correct location.

Choose SOIL MOISTURE.

Take a photo of the location and mark the observed spot with an arrow and/or circle. This way other citizen scientists can see where exactly you made the observation.

Estimate the soil moisture with your hands or shoes. Imagine placing a backpack onto the ground to determine the best fitting class:

• DRY: You could set the backpack on the ground and even after a long time, it would still be dry.
• GRADUALLY DAMP: You could set the backpack on the ground but after some time it would slowly get moist.
• GRADUALLY WET: You could set the backpack on the ground and after some time it would slowly get wet.
• IMMEDIATELY WET: You could set the backpack on the ground, it would immediately get wet.
• MUDDY: If you were to step on the ground you could hear a squeaky sound from the wet soil.
• WELLING: If you were to step on the ground you could see water coming out of the ground next to your shoe.
• SUBMERGED: There is water on the surface.
• RAIN/SNOW: There is snow on the surface or it is currently raining – this means you cannot do an observation.

Enter a description of the exact location of the spot, so that other participants can find it more easily. Check that the time and date match the time of the observation.

Don’t forget to save your observation. If you are not connected to the internet, you can tap the hourglass. Your observation will then be saved under “waiting spots” and you can upload it later.

For a new observation, all you need to do is to select an existing spot, click on the plus sign and then repeat steps to .