Development of a Geospatial Framework for Soil Moisture Monitoring in Nigeria

Soil moisture is vital for hydrology, agriculture, and land–climate interactions, yet national-scale monitoring in many African countries remains limited due to sparse in-situ networks. This study presents the development and evaluation of a National Soil Moisture Monitoring System (NSMMS), a web-based geospatial framework designed to implement satellite-derived soil moisture products for Nigeria. The system is built primarily on the TAMSAT soil moisture dataset, derived from satellite rainfall inputs and land surface modelling, and provides daily multi-layer soil moisture information from 1983 to near–real time. These long-term soil moisture estimates, generated within the TAMSAT–JULES modelling framework, are integrated with automated data processing, geospatial visualisation and analytics within a unified web-based platform. The platform allows users to examine variability across four soil layers, generate trend analyses and summary statistics, and download georeferenced datasets. The system evaluation demonstrated reliable national-scale processing, stable performance, and fast response times across repeated queries. The NSMMS bridges the gap between remote sensing research and operational environmental management by transforming long-term satellite data into an accessible decision-support platform. It offers a scalable framework for drought early warning, irrigation planning, hydrological assessment, and climate-risk management in Nigeria.