A dataset of soil moisture in Xishuangbanna tropical seasonal rain forest (2009 – 2017)

This dataset collected soil moisture content data from January 2009 to December 2017 at the Xishuangbanna Station for Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem Studies of the Chinese Academy Sciences (also known as National Forest Ecosystem Research Station at Xishuangbanna, BNF for short), with a total of 2,879 entries; the determination method is fixed-point continuous observation by instrument of Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR); the observation depths are 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–30 cm, 30–40 cm, 40–50 cm, 50–70 cm, 70–90 cm and 90–110 cm; the observation frequency is 3 times per month, respective at the beginning, middle and end of each month; observation strictly according to the CERN observation and quality control protocols.

The dataset provides sharing service on line and it can be basic data support for tropical forest hydrological research under the global climate change and different vegetation environments.