Project Number: 1245-13610-028-08
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Nov 13, 2009
End Date: Dec 31, 2013

Objective:
The goal of this project is to develop a set of soil moisture retrieval algorithms that can be used with the NASA Aquarius satellite due for launch in 2010. Aquarius was designed for ocean studies but the microwave sensors employed is also ideally suited for soil moisture monitoring. This will be the first satellite to provide both passive and active microwave observations, which will require additional research in order to fully exploit the combined information. The algorithms that are developed and validated would contribute to improved monitoring and modeling of land surface hydrology and weather and climate forecasting and would improve the implementation of these techniques on future soil moisture satellites.

Approach:
Aquarius will provide an improved passive microwave sensor operating at a lower frequency than previous satellites. Established passive microwave soil moisture algorithms will be adapted and implemented to produce a global baseline soil moisture product. This product will be validated using existing ground-based observation resources and model products. Algorithms capable of utilizing the active microwave observations and/or the combined data sets have not been developed and will require extensive analysis of the satellite data over an extended post-launch period. Theory and validation data will be used to develop and select these improved retrieval methods.