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Title: WindSat Passive Microwave Soil Moisture Retrievals

Author
item Jackson, Thomas
item DU, J - VISITING SCIENTIST
item BINDLISH, R - SSAI
item Cosh, Michael
item LI, L - NRL
item GAISER, P - NRL

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2007
Publication Date: 1/9/2008
Citation: Jackson, T.J., Du. J., Bindlish, R., Cosh, M.H., Li, L., Gaiser, P. 2008. WindSat passive microwave soil moisture retrievals. In: Proceeding of the Catchment-Scale Hydrological Modelling and Data Assimilation International Workshop, January 9-11, 2008, Melbourne, Australia. 2008 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Technical Abstract: WindSat is a spaceborne fully polarimetric conical scanning microwave radiometer. It operates at frequencies and polarizations that match other radiometers such as the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and in addition it acquires additional polarimetric measurements at 10.7, 18.7 and 37 GHz. Data are collected at ~ 6 am and 6 pm local time. Here the application of the data to soil moisture retrieval and mapping is evaluated using a number of alternative algorithms. Existing soil moisture retrieval algorithms that utilize AMSR-E may require specific adaptations to deal with diurnal features such as temperature and dew. A global WindSat soil moisture data set would complement AMSR-E products by providing information on additional dates and times. These results should provide support and guidance for future operational satellite designs and data analyses.