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Title: TRMM MICROWAVE IMAGER SOIL MOISTURE MAPPING OF THE SOUTHERN U.S.

Author
item Jackson, Thomas
item BINDLISH, RAJAT - SSAI, INC
item WOOD, E - PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
item GAO, H - PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2002
Publication Date: 7/22/2002
Citation: Jackson, T., Bindlish, R., Wood, E., Gao, H. 2002. TRMM microwave soil moisture mapping of the southern U.S. [abstract]. International Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) Science Conference, July 22-26, 2002, Honolulu, Hawaii. NASA TM-2002-211605:151.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There is a critical need in land surface hydrology to understand the feedback between the land surface and the atmosphere. Surface soil moisture may be one of the most important variables required to develop this information. There are no validated large scale or regional, long-term databases for this purpose. The goal of this project is to develop a soil moisture pathfinder data set for this research. This is the first attempt to map daily soil moisture from space over an extended period of time. The project focuses on the use of the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) over the southern portion of the U.S. The goal is to develop a daily five-year soil moisture pathfinder data set using the TMI observations. TMI coverage over the southern U.S. is obtained on several orbits separated in time. In order to produce a synoptic product it is necessary to normalize these data to a single point in time. We developed a technique to mosaic these orbits based dupon our experiences with aircraft mapping projects. An iterative, least-squares-minimization method is employed in the retrieval algorithm. Validation of the soil moisture products consists of a series of increasingly more comprehensive analyses. Initial efforts included an analysis of the TMI retrieval of soil moisture using the field experiment data sets from Oklahoma. This was complemented by additional studies in Georgia. Further validation is underway and when completed the set of daily soil moisture maps will be processed.