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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 #317084

Title: Soil Moisture Active Passive Satellite Status and Recent Validation Results

Author
item Jackson, Thomas

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2015
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission was launched in January, 2015 and began its calibration and validation (cal/val) phase in May, 2015. Cal/Val will begin with a focus on instrument measurements, brightness temperature and backscatter, and evolve to the geophysical products that include three different spatial resolutions of surface soil moisture (36, 9, and 3 km). The goal is to provide validated products by May, 2016. SMAP will utilize five methodologies in soil moisture cal/val; core validation sites, sparse networks of in situ sensors, inter-comparisons with products from other satellite programs, inter-comparison with model-based products, and field campaigns. By Fall of 2015 there will be several months of SMAP observations that will include the North America summer. The process of product cal/val will be described and recent validation results presented.