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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291073
Title: Integrating SMOS in SMAP Cal/Val

Author
item Jackson, Thomas
item COLLIANDER, A - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
item BINDLISH, R - Science Systems, Inc

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2013
Publication Date: 9/9/2013
Citation: Jackson, T.J., Colliander, A., Bindlish, R. 2013. Integrating SMOS in SMAP Cal/Val [abstract]. Living Planet Symposium. 2013 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP, scheduled launch 2014) ESA Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS, launched 2009) and satellite missions share two characteristics; both provide L-band brightness temperature and surface soil moisture at the same nominal spatial resolution and frequency. To date, having actual L-band brightness temperature, as well as retrieved soil moisture, available has been a major benefit for SMAP because it has allowed the assessment of alternative algorithm approaches during the pre-launch phase. This has required the development of re-processing methods to simulate SMAP observations from the SMOS data. Comparisons of the soil moisture products provided by the SMOS and SMAP algorithms has been valuable and demonstrate how the products might be integrated once SMAP is operational. The current results of these analyses will be presented. Under the assumption that SMOS will continue to operate, we will fully exploit its data when SMAP launches by using the reprocessed brightness temperature as a radiometer calibration resource and the SMOS soil moisture for validation. In the longer term, there is scientific value for both research and applications in merging the SMOS and SMAP data sets to provide a much longer climate data record of brightness temperature and surface soil moisture. The potential mission overlap of SMOS and SMAP will facilitate this integration and the reprocessing of the SMOS to SMOS-SMAP provides a basis for an approach. An overview of the SMAP calibration/validation plan will be reviewed in this presentation.