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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory » Research » Research Project #429065

Research Project: Intercalibration of Low Frequency Brightness Temperature Measurements for Long-Term Soil Moisture Record

Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory

Project Number: 8042-13610-029-011-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement

Start Date: Feb 27, 2017
End Date: Feb 29, 2020

Objective:
This proposal will provide an intercomparison of disseparate satellite platform estimates of surface soil moisture. These satellites are based on different parts of the microwave spectrum. Analysis will be done to determine the performance metrics of each platform as compared to in situ resources which are available in the U.S. This project will incorporate hydrologic models to provide a mechanism for adjusting the in situ resources to the different satellite standards as they different integration depths based on the microwave channel. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be leading the effort as experts in the monitoring of surface moisture from space. The NEA Scientist brings expertise in soil moisture network design and validation to this remote sensing project and will serve as a consultant and advisor to the project team.

Approach:
The first step in this study is to develop baseline comparison of satellite products and their performance metrics to in situ resources. Models will then be applied to the in situ data series and calibrated for different soil layers to compare with the diverse satellite products. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be providing resources for data collection and processing satellite imagery, as well as perform the necessary analysis to complete the research. The NEA Scientist will be providing this expertise on in situ network design, and serve as an advisor to NASA post doctoral researchers.