PhD Students Get Their Feet Wet in SMAPVEX 2022 Field Campaign

Most folks with indoor plants may simply touch the soil to see how dry or wet it is. But measuring soil moisture on a larger scale is a crucial process that can detect drought, unlikely weather patterns, ideal planting times, and forest fires.

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission is an orbiting observatory (including several satellites) measuring the amount of water on soil surfaces.

George Mason doctoral students Soelem Bhuiyan and Ishrat Dollan participated in the SMAPVEX 2022 summer field campaign to measure soil moisture under forest canopies.

“SMAPVEX22 was designed to collect validation samples of soil moisture,” says Dollan. “The samples will help us better understand SMAP’s soil moisture retrieval capability.”

The field campaign occurred in Millbrook, New York, and Harvard Forest, Massachusetts. Bhuiyam and Dollan were part of the Millbrook team and spent most of their time collecting soil samples for data analysis on the forest floor.

Previously a water resources engineering undergraduate, Dollan was curious about the changing hydrological cycle.

“It is critical to accurately estimate each cycle element and comprehend the uncertainties,” she says. “I am grateful to have been assigned to a team of dedicated and energetic individuals to collect massive amounts of data that will help in answering science questions in the coming years.”

A typical day started around 5 a.m., as the field campaign group prepared to foray into the forest. Armed with testing supplies, water, food, and backpacks, the group collected the first sample around 6 a.m. before moving on to other selected locations in the forest, collecting samples along the way.

It was challenging physical work, according to Bhuiyan, but a fulfilling professional and personal experience.

“It was great to see the measure of intricate detail that goes into satellite measurement and meet students from across the U.S.,” he says. “We had a chance to do happy hours and explore the Millbrook area on our own after the day’s work.”

He advises students to grab any kind of field campaign experience they can. Even if it’s not directly related to their field of study, the effort and participation will pay off.

“Whatever experiences like this you can get will help you professionally, especially with getting to know new people, networking, and building relationships,” he says. “Get out there and get going!” g

For as long as she can remember, Dayana Cespedes-Mendoza has had an interest in architecture.

“Whenever my family would go on drives, I’d look at different houses, buildings, and bridges, just to admire them,” she says. “I was always intrigued with how those things were built.”

Add her skills in math and physics, and the incoming freshman at George Mason University says she could not imagine majoring in anything other than civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering — especially considering her goal of building houses for her mother and father in their home countries of Peru and Bolivia, respectively.

“If I become a civil engineer or an architect, I can do that,” Cespedes-Mendoza says.

Cespedes-Mendoza has been familiar with Mason for more than five years through her participation in Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP) for firstgeneration college-bound students. Her mother urged Cespedes-Mendoza to join the program as an eighth grader at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington, Virginia.

“Thanks to EIP, I had a smoother process when it came to college applications,” says Cespedes-