# Conversion to Volumetric Water Content

Next is the conversion of microwave brightness temperature into volumetric water content.

Skaha's land-surface model (LSM) is used to calculate the average field moisture level. Details about the process can be found in the LSM documentation. 

If the dataset is for a new field, calculating the average soil moisture can take several hours. The calculation takes only a few seconds if the meteorological, satellite, and soil data have already been obtained. 

Below is an example of a field calibrated in brightness temperature $$T\_B$$ (left) and volumetric water content (right). Since we assume a linear relation between the two, the only change between the two is in the units. 

![](https://732569122-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FpjLxyzuWzCEm73ytLKrU%2Fuploads%2FoJcKgLmHhbF5gUyqJjuS%2F1bc3f76f-5491-4129-88cd-a5ff300f67dd.png?alt=media\&token=ea4c8da3-aca5-490e-804c-05cee99eb0af)![](https://732569122-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FpjLxyzuWzCEm73ytLKrU%2Fuploads%2FjJXqxhdyIk0wWPVCrE94%2F36aef300-ccec-4fac-a75b-f55e8b51a2bf.png?alt=media\&token=5f9f0fff-77a1-4347-90af-9bbfc8335d09)