Climate change will likely lead to more intense drought events. Unfortunately, it remains difficult to compute long range forecasts of their occurrence and impacts. Soil moisture is an important regulator for runoff generation, percolation, evaporation and precipitation. Hence, a more accurate soil moisture estimation is likely to improve drought forecasts. This research aims to improve seasonal drought forecasts, by including high resolution soil moisture observations. These data will be derived from state-of-the-art measurement techniques, and evaluated during the 2018 European drought. The results will be important for water managers, who will be able to adapt to projected future water limitations.