Soil Moisture

AUS-TMI-AGR-SMO General Moderate confidence

Benchmark Value

15 % VWC
Direction: Higher is desirable ↑
Form: Point

Scoring Curve

This curve shows how a field measurement for this indicator would score across all available benchmark forms in this context. The scoring engine uses 4 benchmarks together — the OptimalRange form drives the primary score, while 3 guard(s) constrain the result.

Contributing Benchmarks

OptimalRange Primary Point Guard OptimalRange Guard MinimumOnly Guard

Evidence & Context

This value of 15% represents the target soil moisture content for a soil at Field Capacity, epitomizing the "best available condition" where water is abundant for ecological processes without being excessive.

Metric Definition:

Soil moisture content at Field Capacity, representing the upper limit of the soil's water holding capacity available to plants.

Benchmark Definition:

The soil moisture content at Field Capacity for volcanic agricultural soils on Norfolk Island, representing the best available condition where water is sufficient for ecological processes without excess.

Justification:

The benchmark is a proxy derived from the upper limit (Field Capacity) of the modelled Soil Water Holding Capacity (SWHC) for representative volcanic agricultural soils (Krasnozems) on Norfolk Island, as determined by the comprehensive CSIRO Norfolk Island Water Resource Assessment (NIWRA). Confidence is Moderate as the value is from a robust, field-calibrated model, which is the best available data, but is not a direct field measurement from a managed site.

Sources (2)

Preview of Norfolk Island Water Resource Assessment - CSIRO
Norfolk Island Water Resource Assessment - CSIRO Government

Norfolk Island Water Resource Assessment - CSIRO

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Additional references from the underlying research that informed this benchmark.

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Norfolk Island - Wikipedia, accessed July 30, 2025,
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Norfolk Island soil drainage DSM attribute - CSIRO Data Access Portal, accessed July 25, 2025,
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Context

  • Region Australia
  • Biome Tropical & Subtropical Maritime Islands
  • Land Use Agricultural Crop Production
  • Assessment Not Stated
  • Evidence Type ReferenceCondition

Lifecycle

  • Status Active
  • Version 1
  • Effective From 1 Jun 2026

Notes

Lower Critical Threshold: 3.75 %. Upper Detrimental Threshold: 15 %. Optimal Range: 7.5-15 %. No direct in-situ soil moisture data from best-practice agricultural sites exists for this biome. Exceeding Field Capacity can lead to nutrient leaching and damage to nearby coral reef ecosystems. AssessmentContext defaulted to 'Not Stated' because the source document did not state one.