Modeling Soil Moisture in the Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert is an arid region of southeastern California and parts of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah; the desert occupies more than 25,000 square miles (fig. 1). Ranging from below sea level to over 5,000 feet (1,524 m) in elevation, the Mojave Desert is considered a ?high desert.? On the west and southwest it is bounded by the Sierra Nevada, the San Gabriel, and the San Bernardino Mountains. These imposing mountains intercept moisture traveling inland from the Pacific Ocean, producing arid conditions characterized by extreme fluctuations in daily temperatures, strong seasonal winds, and an average annual precipitation of less than six inches. The Mojave Desert lies farther south and at a lower elevation than the cooler Great Basin Desert and grades southward into the even lower and hotter Sonoran Desert.