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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 #343481

Research Project: Integrating Remote Sensing, Measurements and Modeling for Multi-Scale Assessment of Water Availability, Use, and Quality in Agroecosystems

Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory

Title: GCOM-W AMSR2 soil moisture product validation using core validation sites

Author
item BINDLISH, R. - Goddard Space Flight Center
item Cosh, Michael
item Jackson, Thomas
item KOIKE, T. - University Of Tokyo
item FUIJI, X. - Tokyo University Of Agriculture & Technology
item DE JEU,, R.A.M. - Research Institute For Knowledge Systems (RIKS BV)
item CHAN, S. - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
item ASANUMA, J. - University Of Tsukuba
item BERG, A. - University Of Guelph
item Bosch, David
item CALDWELL, T. - University Of Texas At Austin
item Holifield Collins, Chandra
item MCNAIRN, H. - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item MARTINEZ-FERNANDEZ, J - University Of Salamanca
item Prueger, John
item ROWLANDSON, TRACY - University Of Guelph
item Seyfried, Mark
item Starks, Patrick
item SU, Z. - University Of Twente
item THIBEAULT, M. - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)
item VAN DER VELDE, R. - University Of Twente
item WALKER, J. - Monash University
item COOPERSMITH, E. - Collaborator

Submitted to: IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2017
Publication Date: 1/1/2018
Citation: Bindlish, R., Cosh, M.H., Jackson, T.J., Koike, T., Fuiji, X., De Jeu,, R., Chan, S., Asanuma, J., Berg, A., Bosch, D.D., Caldwell, T., Holifield Collins, C.D., McNairn, H., Martinez-Fernandez, J., Prueger, J.H., Rowlandson, T., Seyfried, M.S., Starks, P.J., Su, Z., Thibeault, M., van der Velde, R., Walker, J., Coopersmith, E. 2018. GCOM-W AMSR2 soil moisture product validation using core validation sites. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 11(1):209-219. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2017.2754293.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2017.2754293

Interpretive Summary: Core validation sites were used to assess three widely used soil moisture products derived from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) on the Global Change Observation Mission-Water satellite. This instrument extends the time series of twelve years established by its predecessor. Although there have been a number of validation studies involving soil moisture products derived from AMSR2, the results are often not robust enough to reliably assess performance for specific site conditions. The approach used in this investigation addresses this shortcoming by using sites that include replicate spatial in situ sampling and scaling, thus providing a more reliable estimate of the soil moisture that is used to assess the satellite products. Results indicate that two of the products had similar performance and could meet the established requirements. Establishing the performance of the soil moisture retrieval approach and linking the new instrument measurements to the preceding mission is important to its implementation in algorithms as well as long term trend assessments.This study will influence the addition of the AMSR2 data product to all future soil moisture data records, impacting hydrologic modeling, weather forecasting, and a variety of agricultural applications.

Technical Abstract: The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) is part of the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W). AMSR2 has filled the gap in passive microwave observations left by the loss of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer–Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) after almost 10 years of observations. Both missions provide brightness temperature observations that are used to retrieve soil moisture estimates at the near surface. A merged AMSR-E and AMSR2 data product will help build a consistent long-term dataset; however, before this can be done, it is necessary to conduct a thorough validation and assessment of the AMSR2 soil moisture products. This study focuses on the validation of the AMSR2 soil moisture products by comparison with in situ reference data from a set of core validation sites around the world. A total of three soil moisture products that rely on different algorithms were evaluated; the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) soil moisture algorithm, the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), and the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA). JAXA, SCA and LPRM soil moisture estimates capture the overall climatological features. The spatial features of the three products have similar overall spatial structure. The JAXA soil moisture product shows a lower dynamic range in the retrieved soil moisture with a satisfactory performance matrix when compared to in situ observations. The SCA performs well over low and moderately vegetated areas. The LPRM product has a large dynamic range compared to in situ observations with a wet. Some of the error is due to the difference in observation depth between the in situ sensors (5 cm) and satellite estimates (1 cm). Results indicate that overall the JAXA and SCA have the best performance based upon the metrics considered.