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In August 2020, soil moisture active passive (SMAP) released a new version of its soil moisture and vegetation optical depth (VOD) retrieval products. In this article, we review the methodology followed by the SMAP regularized dual-channel retrieval algorithm. We show that the new implementation generates SM retrievals that not only satisfy the SMAP accuracy requirements, but also show a performance comparable to the single-channel algorithm that uses the V polarized brightness temperature. Due to a lack of in situ measurements we cannot evaluate the accuracy of the VOD. In this article, we show analyses with the intention of providing an understanding of the VOD product. We compare the VOD results with those from SMOS. We also study the relation of the SMAP VOD with two vegetation parameters: tree height and biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FengYun-3 (FY-3) series satellite is the second generation of Chinese polar-orbiting meteorological satellite missions. The FY-3D satellite was launched on November 2017 and has been providing valuable data for meteorological applications, including brightness temperature (TB) data from the MicroWave Radiation Imager (MWRI). In this study, we developed a global soil moisture retrieval algorithm, based on the radiative transfer equation (RTE) for using the FY-3D MWRI TB to continue the soil moisture record from FY-3 satellites. We adopted a new empirical model to compute vegetation water content (VWC) based on the leaf area index (LAI) and canopy height (H) for vegetation effects correction. The Qp model, which addresses the soil surface roughness effects using dual-polarization information, is then used for soil moisture retrieval. Validation of the FY-3D soil moisture was conducted with the in-situ data and the validation results showed encouraging accuracy over a variety of landcovers, with bias and unbiased root-mean-squared difference (ubRMSE) at or below the level of 0.06 m3 ⋅ m−3. Monthly averaged soil moisture products generated from FY-3D could represent the seasonal changes in soil moisture and show reasonable spatial distribution of soil moisture at a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture dynamics in the presence of dense vegetation canopies are determinants of ecosystem function and biogeochemical cycles, but the capability of existing spaceborne sensors to support reliable and useful estimates is not known. New results from a recently initiated field experiment in the northeast United States show that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite is capable of retrieving soil moisture under temperate forest canopies. We present an analysis demonstrating that a parameterized emission model with the SMAP morning overpass brightness temperature resulted in a RMSD (root‐mean‐square difference) range of 0.047–0.057 m3/m3 and a Pearson correlation range of 0.75–0.85 depending on the experiment location and the SMAP polarization. The inversion approach included a minimal amount of ancillary data. This result demonstrates unequivocally that spaceborne L‐band radiometry is sensitive to soil moisture under temperate forest canopies, which has been uncertain because of lack of representative reference data. Key Points: Soil moisture monitoring networks were deployed at two forested sites for SMAP validation experimentSMAP brightness temperature was used to retrieve soil moisture over predominantly forested sitesThe study demonstrates the capability of spaceborne L‐band radiometry to retrieve soil moisture under forest canopies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utility of hydrologic land surface models (LSMs) can be enhanced by using information from observational platforms, but mismatches between the two are common. This study assesses the degree to which model agreement with observations is affected by two mechanisms in particular: 1) physical incongruities between the support volumes being characterized and 2) inadequate or inconsistent parameterizations of physical processes. The Noah and Noah-MP LSMs by default characterize surface soil moisture (SSM) in the top 10 cm of the soil column. This depth is notably different from the 5-cm (or less) sensing depth of L-band radiometers such as NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission. These depth inconsistencies are examined by using thinner model layers in the Noah and Noah- MP LSMs and comparing resultant simulations to in situ and SMAP soil moisture. In addition, a forward radiative transfer model (RTM) is used to facilitate direct comparisons of LSM-based and SMAP-based L-band Tb retrievals. Agreement between models and observations is quantified using Kolmogorov- Smirnov distance values, calculated from empirical cumulative distribution functions of SSM and Tb time series. Results show that agreement of SSM and Tb with observations depends primarily on systematic biases, and the sign of those biases depends on the particular subspace being analyzed (SSM or Tb). This study concludes that the role of increased soil layer discretization on simulated soil moisture and Tb is secondary to the influence of component parameterizations, the effects of which dominate systematic differences with observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soil moisture active passive (SMAP) mission was designed to acquire L-band radiometer measurements for the estimation of soil moisture (SM) with an average ubRMSD of not more than 0.04 $\text{m}^{3}/\text{m}^{3}$ volumetric accuracy in the top 5 cm for vegetation with a water content of less than 5 kg/ $\text{m}^{2}$. Single-channel algorithm (SCA) and dual-channel algorithm (DCA) are implemented for the processing of SMAP radiometer data. The SCA using the vertically polarized brightness temperature (SCA-V) has been providing satisfactory SM retrievals. However, the DCA using prelaunch design and algorithm parameters for vertical and horizontal polarization data has a marginal performance. In this article, we show that with the updates of the roughness parameter $h$ and the polarization mixing parameters $Q$ , a modified DCA (MDCA) can achieve improved accuracy over DCA; it also allows for the retrieval of vegetation optical depth (VOD or $\tau$). The retrieval performance of MDCA is assessed and compared with SCA-V and DCA using four years (April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2019) of in situ data from core validation sites (CVSs) and sparse networks. The assessment shows that SCA-V still outperforms all the implemented algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Soil Moisture (L.4_SM) product provides global, 3-hourly, 9-km resolution estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture with a mean latency of ~2.5 days. The underlying L4_SM algorithm assimilates SMAP radiometer brightness temperature (Tb) observations into the NASA Catchment land surface model using a spatially distributed ensemble Kalman filter. In Version 4 of the L4_SM modeling system the upward recharge of surface soil moisture from below under nonequilibrium conditions was reduced, resulting in less bias and improved dynamic range of L4_SM surface soil moisture compared to earlier versions. This change and additional technical modifications to the system reduce the mean and standard deviation of the observation-minus-forecast Tb residuals and overall soil moisture analysis increments while maintaining the skill of the L4_SM soil moisture estimates versus independent in situ measurements; the average, biasadjusted root-mean-square error in Version 4 is 0.039 m³/m³ for surface and 0.026 m3/m3 for root zone soil moisture. Moreover, the coverage of assimilated SMAP observations in Version 4 is near global owing to the use of additional satellite Tb records for algorithm calibration. L4_SM soil moisture uncertainty estimates are biased low (by 0.01-0.02 m³/m³) against actual errors (computed versus in situ measurements). L4_SM runoff estimates, an additional product of the L4_SM algorithm, are biased low (by 35 mm/year) against streamflow measurements. Compared to Version 3, bias in Version 4 is reduced by 46% for surface soil moisture uncertainty estimates and by 33% for runoff estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water cycle observation mission (WCOM) will build upon previous L and C band passive microwave soil moisture satellite missions. WCOM will consist of a passive microwave synthetic aperture radiometer operating at L, S, and C bands. The WCOM requirements for passive soil moisture are to estimate soil moisture in the top 5 cm of soil layer with an error less than 0.04 m3/m3, at 15-km resolution and with a 3-day revisit. A new set of algorithms for these multi-frequency platforms will need to be developed for estimating the data products at the desired resolution. To accomplish this, a brightness temperature (TB) downscaling methodology is developed that uses passive S-band TB (30 km) to downscale L-band TB (50 km) and to estimate soil moisture at a 30-km resolution, based on the linear relationships between the passive signals of L band and S band. To test this downscaling method, analysis was performed using PALS data from the Soil Moisture Experiments in 2002 (SMEX02). For this study, 4-km L-band observations were downscaled to 800 m. The root mean square errors between the downscaled TBL at 800 m with the observed TBL at 800 m are 2.63 and 1.60 K for H and V polarizations, respectively. The results also showed that it was possible to use these disaggregated TB to estimate soil moisture to meet the mission requirement of 0.04 m3/m3. These results showed that we can obtain higher resolution soil moisture from the L-band passive TB with a high accuracy (<0.04 m3/m3) by using the S-band information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission conducted a field experiment with its partners over two 40-km agricultural domains in Iowa and Manitoba in the summer of 2016 to address concerns observed in SMAP soil moisture (SM) retrievals over agricultural areas. The experiment featured airborne Passive Active L-band System (PALS) flights over each domain with intensive ground measurements and dense networks of SM monitoring stations. With two intensive observation periods separated in time (May 28–June 20 and July 14–August 16), the flights captured both early-season/low vegetation and later-season/high-vegetation conditions. The comparison of the PALS brightness temperature (TB) measurements to the SMAP TB observed over the sites resulted in root mean square difference (RMSD) of 2.8 K and 4.0 K for vertical and horizontal polarizations, respectively. The subsequent SM analysis rescaled the PALS TB with the SMAP TB to allow equitable comparisons between the SM retrievals from the two instruments. The PALS SM retrieval algorithm used the SM sampled by the ground teams during the overpass days for tuning, and was parameterized by a high-resolution vegetation water content product calibrated using vegetation samples collected during the experiment. The tuning process was not able to find a satisfactory result with a temporally constant set of parameters in the single channel algorithm for the two intensive observation periods of the experiment. This result indicated that the rapid change in the vegetation structure during the growth stages and likely variation in the surface roughness conditions were not compatible with rigid parameterization over the entire period. However, using seasonally variable parameters we found that it was possible to retrieve soil moisture with satisfactory accuracy. Comparative analysis with the SMAP SM product included aggregation of the PALS SM to the SMAP pixel-scale. The RMSD between the PALS SM and the aggregated manual field samples was <0.04 m3/m3 with Pearson correlation >0.85 for both sites. The comparison between different in situ sources indicated that the soil moisture network measurements were not the source of the large biases observed for SMAP over the sites reported in earlier studies. Therefore, the results suggested the rapidly growing vegetation and the early-season surface condition changes not captured by the SMAP algorithm caused the SMAP retrieval errors. In addition, the significant deviations of the vegetation water content used by the SMAP product from the calibrated vegetation water content obtained during the experiment compounds the problem. • Airborne measurements matched well with SMAP in SMAPVEX16 • Accurate soil moisture retrieval possible at the sites with flexible parameterization • PALS soil moisture retrieval performance <0.04 m3/m3 in RMS • SMAP suffering over these sites from rigid algorithm parameterization • Inability of the vegetation climatology to capture inter-annual variation an issue [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares different methods to extract soil moisture information through the assimilation of Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observations. Neural network (NN) and physically-based SMAP soil moisture retrievals were assimilated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Catchment model over the contiguous United States for April 2015 to March 2017. By construction, the NN retrievals are consistent with the global climatology of the Catchment model soil moisture. Assimilating the NN retrievals without further bias correction improved the surface and root zone correlations against in situ measurements from 14 SMAP core validation sites (CVS) by 0.12 and 0.16, respectively, over the model-only skill, and reduced the surface and root zone unbiased root-mean-square error (ubRMSE) by 0.005 m³ m-3 and 0.001 m³ m-3, respectively. The assimilation reduced the average absolute surface bias against the CVS measurements by 0.009 m³ m-3, but increased the root zone bias by 0.014 m³ m-3. Assimilating the NN retrievals after a localized bias correction yielded slightly lower surface correlation and ubRMSE improvements, but generally the skill differences were small. The assimilation of the physically-based SMAP Level-2 passive soil moisture retrievals using a global bias correction yielded similar skill improvements, as did the direct assimilation of locally bias-corrected SMAP brightness temperatures within the SMAP Level-4 soil moisture algorithm. The results show that global bias correction methods may be able to extract more independent information from SMAP observations compared to local bias correction methods, but without accurate quality control and observation error characterization they are also more vulnerable to adverse effects from retrieval errors related to uncertainties in the retrieval inputs and algorithm. Furthermore, the results show that using global bias correction approaches without a simultaneous re-calibration of the land model processes can lead to skill degradation in other land surface variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission was launched on January 31, 2015. The observatory was developed to provide global mapping of high-resolution soil moisture and freeze-thaw state every two to three days using an L-band (active) radar and an L-band (passive) radiometer. After an irrecoverable hardware failure of the radar on July 7, 2015, the radiometer-only soil moisture product became the only operational soil moisture product for SMAP. The product provides soil moisture estimates posted on a 36 km Earth-fixed grid produced using brightness temperature observations from descending passes. Within months after the commissioning of the SMAP radiometer, the product was assessed to have attained preliminary (beta) science quality, and data were released to the public for evaluation in September 2015. The product is available from the NASA Distributed Active Archive Center at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This paper provides a summary of the Level 2 Passive Soil Moisture Product (L2_SM_P) and its validation against in situ ground measurements collected from different data sources. Initial in situ comparisons conducted between March 31, 2015 and October 26, 2015, at a limited number of core validation sites (CVSs) and several hundred sparse network points, indicate that the V-pol Single Channel Algorithm (SCA-V) currently delivers the best performance among algorithms considered for L2_SM_P, based on several metrics. The accuracy of the soil moisture retrievals averaged over the CVSs was 0.038 m3/m3 unbiased root-mean-square difference (ubRMSD), which approaches the SMAP mission requirement of 0.040 m3/m3. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aquarius satellite observations over land offer a new resource for measuring soil moisture from space. Although Aquarius was designed for ocean salinity mapping, our objective in this investigation is to exploit the large amount of land observations that Aquarius acquires and extend the mission scope to include the retrieval of surface soil moisture. The soil moisture retrieval algorithm development focused on using only the radiometer data because of the extensive heritage of passive microwave retrieval of soil moisture. The single channel algorithm (SCA) was implemented using the Aquarius observations to estimate surface soil moisture. Aquarius radiometer observations from three beams (after bias/gain modification) along with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction model forecast surface temperatures were then used to retrieve soil moisture. Ancillary data inputs required for using the SCA are vegetation water content, land surface temperature, and several soil and vegetation parameters based on land cover classes. The resulting global spatial patterns of soil moisture were consistent with the precipitation climatology. Initial assessments were performed using in situ observations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Little Washita and Little River watershed soil moisture networks. Results showed good performance by the algorithm for these land surface conditions for the period of August 2011–June 2013 ( \rmse=0.031\ \m^3/\m^3, \Bias = -0.007\ \m^3/\m^3, and $R = 0.855$) . This radiometer-only soil moisture product will serve as a baseline for continuing research on both active and combined passive–active soil moisture algorithms. The products are routinely available through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration data archive at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Soil moisture ocean salinity (SMOS) mission has been providing L-band multiangular brightness temperature observations at a global scale since its launch in November 2009 and has performed well in the retrieval of soil moisture. The multiple incidence angle observations also allow for the retrieval of additional parameters beyond soil moisture, but these are not obtained at fixed values and the resolution and accuracy change with the grid locations over SMOS snapshot images. Radio-frequency interference (RFI) issues and aliasing at lower look angles increase the uncertainty of observations and thereby affect the soil moisture retrieval that utilizes observations at specific angles. In this study, we proposed a two-step regression approach that uses a mixed objective function based on SMOS L1c data products to refine characteristics of multiangular observations. The approach was found to be robust by validation using simulations from a radiative transfer model, and valuable in improving soil moisture estimates from SMOS. In addition, refined brightness temperatures were analyzed over three external targets: Antarctic ice sheet, Amazon rainforest, and Sahara desert, by comparing with WindSat observations. These results provide insights for selecting and utilizing external targets as part of the upcoming soil moisture active passive (SMAP) mission. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study, a first-order radiative transfer (RT) model is developed to more accurately account for vegetation canopy scattering by modifying the basic \tau-\omega model (the zero-order RT solution). In order to optimally utilize microwave radiometric data in soil moisture (SM) retrievals over vegetated landscapes, a quantitative understanding of the relationship between scattering mechanisms within vegetation canopies and the microwave brightness temperature is desirable. The first-order RT model is used to investigate this relationship and to perform a physical analysis of the scattered and emitted radiation from vegetated terrain. This model is based on an iterative solution (successive orders of scattering) of the RT equations up to the first order. This formulation adds a new scattering term to the \tau-\omega model. The additional term represents emission by particles (vegetation components) in the vegetation layer and emission by the ground that is scattered once by particles in the layer. The model is tested against 1.4-GHz brightness temperature measurements acquired over deciduous trees by a truck-mounted microwave instrument system called ComRAD in 2007. The model predictions are in good agreement with the data, and they give quantitative understanding for the influence of first-order scattering within the canopy on the brightness temperature. The model results show that the scattering term is significant for trees and modifications are necessary to the \tau-\omega model when applied to dense vegetation. Numerical simulations also indicate that the scattering term has a negligible dependence on SM and is mainly a function of the incidence angle and polarization of the microwave observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fusion of active and passive microwave measurements is expected to provide more robust surface soil moisture (SSM) mapping across various environmental conditions compared to the use of a single sensor. Thus, the integration of the newest L-band passive (i.e., Soil Moisture Active Passive, SMAP) and the active (i.e., the Advanced Scatterometer, ASCAT) observations provides an opportunity for SSM mapping with improved accuracy. However, this integration remains largely underexplored. In this context, the integration of SMAP brightness temperature (TB) and ASCAT backscattering coefficients for global-scale SSM estimation was investigated, by fully considering the potential error sources in conventional radiative transfer models (RTMs) as well as other SSM linked factors. Based on ground measurements from globally distributed dense networks with mitigated mismatch issues and spatial/temporal independent evaluation strategies, this study: (i) comprehensively evaluated four classical machine learning approaches, including Random Forest (RF), Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Cascaded Neural Network (CNN), and chose the best performing RF method to implement the final integration of SSM; (ii) compared the integration retrievals to those made using data from a single sensor (SMAP or ASCAT) with the same machine learning framework, as well as to the SMAP passive, ASCAT active, and ESA CCI active-passive combined SSM products. The results show the integration retrievals achieve satisfactory performance by obtaining an averaged unbiased root mean squared error (ubRMSE) of 0.042 m3/m3 and a temporal correlation of 0.756, which are superior to machine learning based SSM estimated from a single active or passive sensor, and also outperform the SMAP, ASCAT, and ESA CCI products. Moreover, the temporal resolution is evidently improved compared to the SMAP and ASCAT SSM products, with a temporal ratio exceeding 60% for most areas across the globe. Therefore, blending active and passive measurements affords a more reliable SSM mapping with increased sampling at the global scale, and could contribute to improved hydro-ecological applications. • SMAP was integrated with ASCAT for global SSM retrieval. • Diverse perturbing factors in RTMs were fully considered. • The integrated SSM showed high skill with increased temporal resolution. • RF exhibited better performance than other machine learning approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Dew affects the brightness temperature of vegetation and backscatter from vegetation at microwave wavelengths. Must this effect be taken into account in order to avoid corrupting remotely sensed observations of important ecosystem variables such as soil moisture? As a first step towards answering this question, we report the frequency and duration of dew events, the total amount of dew in the canopy, and the distribution of dew within the canopy for two different types of crop canopy, corn and soybean, during SMEX05, a 21-day field experiment conducted during June and July, 2005, in Iowa, USA. We observed dew to be present more than 50% of the time in both corn and soybean at common satellite overpass times of 1:30 and 6:00 CST. Dew was most likely to be present between 12:00 and 6:30 CST, and as late as 9:00 CST. Two different methods to scale the liquid water measured on single leaves to the entire vegetation canopy produced similar results, and we observed dew amounts that were comparable, and in some cases higher, than those that have been shown to affect the microwave brightness temperature and backscatter. The distribution of dew within the canopy among the top and bottom of a leaf and (for corn) the leaf collar may influence its effect on remotely sensed measurements. We found that this distribution is different for light, moderate, and heavy dew events. A modeling approach will be necessary to estimate dew at larger spatial scales associated with satellite remote sensing. The Atmosphere–Land Exchange (ALEX) model, a land surface process model that accounts for both dewfall and distillation, produced estimates of dew amount and duration that were in agreement with manual observations and observations made with leaf wetness sensors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The uncertainty of surface soil moisture (SM) retrievals from satellite brightness temperature (TB) observations depends primarily on the choice of radiative transfer model (RTM) parameters, prior SM information and TB inputs. This paper studies the sensitivity of several established and experimental SM retrieval products from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission to these choices at 11 reference sites, located in 7 watersheds across the United States (US). Different RTM parameter sets cause large biases between retrievals. Whereas typical RTM parameter sets are calibrated for SM retrievals, it is shown that a parameter set carefully optimized for TB forward modeling can also be used for retrieving SM. It is also shown that the inclusion of dynamic prior SM estimates in a Bayesian retrieval scheme can strongly improve SM retrievals, regardless of the choice of RTM parameters. The second part of this paper evaluates the ensemble uncertainty metrics for SM retrievals obtained by propagating a wide range of RTM parameters through the RTM, and the relationship with time series metrics obtained by comparing SM retrievals with in situ data. As expected for bounded variables, the total spread in the ensemble SM retrievals is smallest for wet and dry SM values and highest for intermediate SM values. After removal of the strong long-term SM bias associated with the RTM parameter values for individual ensemble members, the remaining anomaly ensemble SM spread shows higher values when SM deviates further from its long-term mean SM. This reveals higher-order biases (e.g. differences in variances) in the retrieval error, which should be considered when characterizing retrieval error. The time-average anomaly ensemble SM spread of 0.037 m3/m3 approximates the actual time series unbiased root-mean-square-difference of 0.042 m3/m3 between ensemble mean retrievals and in situ data across the reference sites. • Wetter SM retrievals for higher roughness and vegetation parameter values • Good SM retrievals possible with RTM parameters calibrated for TB forward modeling • Improved SM retrievals with inclusion of model-based prior SM estimates • Similar SM mean - variance relationship sampled in time, space, or across an ensemble • Higher-order biases in SM retrieval error after long-term mean removal [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil surface roughness in the U.S. Corn Belt varies outside of the growing season due to rainfall and soil management activities such as tillage. This is not consistent with the assumption that roughness is a static parameter in the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) soil moisture retrieval algorithm. SMAPVEX16-IA, an extensive field campaign focused on calibration of SMAP retrievals in croplands, occurred during a period when roughness is theoretically at a minima. Satellite-scale measurements of rms height and correlation length collected via pinboard, gridboard, and lidar methodologies resulted in a ensemble of model roughness coefficients that, at h = [0.13, 0.97], is significantly rougher than the original SMAP assumption in croplands of h = 0.108. Comparing simulated brightness temperatures using the ensemble h to SMAP observations resulted in a best-fit angular sensitivity coefficient of N = − 2 for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. Satellite-scale h is then retrieved for a four-year study period (excluding growing seasons) via the single channel algorithm from SMAP brightness temperatures and in situ observations of soil moisture and temperature. Roughness retrievals are highly variable in the spring as rainfall events decrease h followed by an increase during soil dry-down; h steadily increases in the fall post-harvest as fields are tilled across the network. Retrievals of h are effectively independent of polarization and demonstrate the potential to simultaneously retrieve soil moisture and roughness in the absence of crops. These soil roughness retrievals could provide new information on tillage and other soil management activities. • Soil roughness sampled across a SMAP core validation network in the Corn Belt. • Temporally dynamic model roughness coefficient retrieved when crops are absent. • Both in situ and retrieved roughness is larger than assumed by SMAP in croplands. • Retrieved roughness increases from fall tillage then varies with spring rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, soil moisture retrievals of surface soil moisture was investigated using L-band brightness temperature under diverse conditions and land cover types. The study focused on the PALS (Passive Active L-band System) radiometer data collected during the SMAPVEX12 (Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiment 2012) field experiment which took place in southern Manitoba, Canada in 2012. The experiment domain covers croplands with high clay content as well as croplands and grasslands with sandy soils. A retrieval algorithm was parameterized for these specific land types. The formulation of the retrieval algorithm is based on a traditional surface scattering assumption. Based on this data set we found that for the clayey croplands the surface scattering assumption is inadequate, and that the algorithm needed significant tuning for the sandy soils. Empirically-based parameters for retrieving soil moisture under these conditions were developed. We also applied the parameterized algorithm to the retrieval of soil moisture for the entire experiment domain. We found that the use of sub-grid modeling improves the retrieval performance to a satisfactory level despite the challenging land types encountered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission of NASA was launched in January 2015. Currently, SMAP has an L-band radiometer and a defunct L-band radar with a rotating 6-m mesh reflector antenna. On July 7th, 2015, the SMAP radar malfunctioned and became inoperable. Consequently, the production of high-resolution active-passive soil moisture product got hampered, and only ~2.5 months (April 15th, 2015 to July 7th, 2015) of data remain available. Therefore, during the SMAP post-radar phase, many ways were examined to restart the high-resolution soil moisture product generation of the SMAP mission. One of the feasible approaches was to substitute the SMAP radar with other available SAR data. Sentinel-1A/Sentinel-1B SAR data was found most suitable for combining with the SMAP radiometer data because of its nearly similar orbit configuration that allows overlapping of their swaths with a minimal time difference, a key feature/requirement for the SMAP active-passive algorithm. The Sentinel interferometric wide swath (IW) mode acquisition also provides the co-polarized and cross-polarized observations required for the SMAP active-passive algorithm. However, some differences do exist between the SMAP and Sentinel SAR data. They are mainly: 1) Sentinel has a C-band SAR whereas SMAP operates at L-band; 2) Sentinel has multiple incidence angles within its swath, and SMAP has one single incidence angle; and 3) Sentinel 1A/B Interferometric Wide (IW) swath width is ~250 km as compared to SMAP with 1000 km swath width. On any given day, the narrow swath width of the Sentinel observations significantly reduces the overlap spatial coverage between SMAP and Sentinel as compared to the original SMAP radar and radiometer swath coverage. Hence, the temporal resolution (revisit interval) suffers due to narrow overlapped swath width and degrades from 3 days to 12 days. One advantage of using very high-resolution resolution Sentinel-1A/Sentinel-1B data in the SMAP active-passive algorithm is the potential of obtaining the disaggregated brightness temperature and thus soil moisture at a much finer spatial resolution of 3 km and 1 km at global extent. The assessment of high-resolution product at 3 km and 1 km using the soil moisture calibration and validations sites shows reasonable accuracy of ~0.05 m3/m3. The SMAP-Sentinel1 active-passive high-resolution product is now available to the public (new version released in October 2018) through NSIDC (NASA DAAC). The duration of this product is from April 2015 to current date. • The article is about the high resolution (1 km and 3 km) soil moisture data from the SMAP mission. • The soil moisture is produced using the SMAP L-band TB and Sentinel 1A/B C-band Sigma0. • The high resolution soil moisture has reasonable accuracy (RMSE) of ~0.05 m3/m3. • The SMAP-Sentinel1 high resolution soil moisture product is ready for geophysical applications. • The temporal frequency of the this product is ~12 days, however, in Europe it is 6 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]