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Table S2. Comparison of query performance between a single computer and a four-node cluster. (DOCX 9 kb)

Supplementary information for Methods and Mendelian inheritance analysis rules. (DOCX 20 kb)

Table S1. VCF data loading under two different hardware settings. (DOCX 9 kb)

International audience; While SMOS was designed with full polarimetric capability, the 3rd Stokes parameter information has not been introduced so far in the data processing. The analysis reported in the present contribution proposes to estimate from this information the total ionospheric electron content (TEC). Indeed the Faraday effect generated by the ionospheric electrons on the path from Earth to satellite is believed to be responsible for large uncertainties in the evening half-orbits (circa 06 PM local time) when the ionospheric content is close to its diurnal maximum. It is shown that the 3rd Stokes parameter exhibits a maximal sensitivity to TEC in a restricted area located at the front of the SMOS 2D field of view. However, since the Faraday angle depends on the scalar product between line-of-sight and magnetic field vectors, a latitudinal zone is found where this sensitivity vanishes. This zone occurs around 15° N a latitude nearly invariant with longitude around the Earth. Accordingly it is possible, when carrying out the TEC estimation over a descending half-orbit, to isolate over this "blind zone" the so-called "Ocean Target Transformation" parameter, which aims at correcting for pixel dependent biases. TEC maps obtained in this way compare favorably with maps built from GPS measurements, which have been introduced so far in the SMOS processing chain as auxiliary data. The space resolution is somewhat improved, allowing a better selection of the relevant electron content in zones exhibiting large horizontal TEC gradients. In a latter step, based on the TEC maps, it becomes possible to recompute the OTT correction for those brightness temperature components to be used as input in the salinity retrieval. Then the additional information impacts the salinity retrieval both directly (as the quality of the TEC auxiliary data is improved) and indirectly (as the empirical OTT correction is no longer contaminated by spurious Faraday rotation effects). The respective contributions of both effects will be assessed and discussed. They result on the whole in a significant improvement of the SMOS retrieved salinity; this is evidenced by a large reduction of a spurious latitudinal variation which was so far considered as a bias originating in instrumental effects.

European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2014 (EGU2014), 27 april - 2 may 2014, Vienna, Austria.-- 1 page, SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), launched on November 2, 2009, is the first satellite mission addressing sea surface salinity measurements from space. Its unique payload is MIRAS (Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis), a new two-dimensional interferometer designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operating at the microwave L-band. In this presentation we address the quality of the salinity products now being operationally delivered, following algorithm improvements achieved from the analysis of four years of data. The pioneer nature of this mission, both from the technological and data processing points of view, implies many challenges and several issues that are still being addressed by the SMOS team. These are mainly related to low level data processing (instrument calibration stability, interferometric image reconstruction, contamination from external radiation) but also to the retrieval of salinity from radiometric measurements, with the need to correct for other geophysical effects as the impact of sea surface roughness in ocean L-band emission. Detailed analysis of the SSS fields retrieved by SMOS (reprocessed according to the present stage of algorithms development), and comparison to other data sources like the Argo array of profiling floats or ship data, evidence that in tropical/subtropical regions, provided that large scale seasonal biases are removed, the precision of SMOS salinity at monthly/100km scale is 0.2, while in some regions the results are degraded due to geophysical unfavourable conditions (cold waters where the brightness temperature sensitivity to salinity in smaller, difficult roughness correction under high or very low winds, impact of land or RFI contamination). Some examples will be presented of the use of SMOS salinity data in different oceanographic applications where the available in situ data have too coarse spatial or temporal resolution or do not provide information on salinity in the very top ocean layer

European Space Agency (ESA) Living Planet Symposium, 9-13 September 2013, Edinburgh

1st SMOS Science Workshop, 27-29 September 2011, Arles, France.-- 4 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission was launched in November 2009 to provide, over the oceans, Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) maps on a global basis with spatial and temporal coverage adequate for large scale oceanography [1]. An iterative inversion scheme [2] allows obtaining SSS estimations (Level 2 product, Fig. 1a) from the multi-angular brightness temperatures (TB, Level 1 product) provided by the MIRAS (Microwave Interferometric Radiometer by Aperture Synthesis) sensor. [...]

SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), launched on November 2, 2009, is the first satellite mission addressing sea surface salinity measurements from space. Its unique payload is MIRAS (Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis), a new two-dimensional interferometer designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operating at the microwave L-band. This paper presents the characteristics of the instrument, a summary of the sea surface salinity retrieval from SMOS observations and shows initial results obtained one year and a half after launch. The pioneer nature of this mission, both from the technological and data processing points of view, implies many challenges that require continuous improvements even the mission was declared operational in May 2010. At present there are still several issues being addressed by the SMOS team, mainly related to low level data processing but also to the retrieval of salinity from radiometric measurements, which prevent by now from reaching the mission objectives in terms of salinity accuracy. However, realistic salinity maps have been obtained and preliminary validation tests against in situ data indicate we are approaching our goals. SMOS will be a milestone in the route for incorporating salinity to operational remote sensing, The design, implementation and operation of SMOS has been possible thanks to the effort of many scientific, technological and industrial European teams for almost twenty years. The SMOS level 2 processor development was funded by ESA under different contracts. This work was also supported in part by the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, and by the Spanish National R+D Plan for the SMOS Barcelona Expert Center on Radiometric Calibration and Ocean Salinity (http://www.smos-bec.icm.csic.es) activities, through project AYA2010-22062-C05 and previous grants

International audience; SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), launched in November 2, 2009 is the first satellite mission addressing the salinity measurement from space through the use of MIRAS (Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis), a new two-dimensional interferometer designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operating at L-band. This paper presents a summary of the sea surface salinity retrieval approach implemented in SMOS, as well as first results obtained after completing the mission commissioning phase in May 2010. A large number of papers have been published about salinity remote sensing and its implementation in the SMOS mission. An extensive list of references is provided here, many authored by the SMOS ocean salinity team, with emphasis on the different physical processes that have been considered in the SMOS salinity retrieval algorithm.

International audience; The SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) satellite was successfully launched on 2nd November 2009. The first 6 months after launch is dedicated to the commissioning phase during which the ground segment processing chains are validated. SMOS is the first interferometric radiometer in orbit. In the first ground processing (Level 1) an image reconstruction algorithm is applied which yields measured brightness temperatures (TB). Preliminary studies have shown that this processing is critical and likely to introduce biases that affect subsequent processing. Therefore, a comparison of modeled to reconstructed TB is essential. Homogenous ocean surfaces far from land masses are ideal for this task as the TB variation with the satellite geometry (incidence angle) is relatively well known. In this presentation we will focus on the following analysis: 1. Extensive comparisons between SMOS Level 1c TB and forward model simulated TB using ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast) forcings. Comparisons will be performed with one of the forward models implemented in the L2 ocean salinity processor (2-scale model, Dinnat et al. 2003). Statistics of the TB differences will be presented. They may be related to flaws in the level 1c Tb related to image reconstruction or to instrumental imperfections, in the ECMWF forcings, or in the forward model. In order to discriminate between these various sources of uncertainties, the statistics of the Tb differences will be analysed in various reference frame: - the antenna reference frame (director cosines) - the earth reference frame and the correlation of the differences with the geometry of the measurement (incidence angle, distance to the center of the swath, ascending or descending orbit…) and with respect to the auxiliary geophysical parameters (wind speed, sea surface temperature…) will be looked at. 2. The pseudo-dielectric parameter Acard (Waldteufel et al., 2004) is used to synthesize information contained in both the real and the imaginary parts of dielectric constant of medium, such as sea water. The principle for retrieving sea surface salinity (SSS) from radiometric measurements is that the dielectric constant of sea water depends on several physical parameters, including SSS and sea surface temperature (SST). Given the relation between dielectric constant and Acard, retrieving Acard with the whole direct model is in a way equivalent to retrieve dielectric constant, which represents the property of sea water more directly than SSS and SST. The consistency between Acard_retrieved and Acard_modeled will be another tool for testing and assessing the validity of SMOS measurements and retrieved parameters. The consistency between retrieved Acard (Acard_retrieved) and Acard from known values of dielectric constants (Acard_modeled) will be investigated using similar methods as the ones described in 1. Perspectives about the accuracy on sea surface salinity retrieved from SMOS measurements will be given based on the above comparisons and analysis.

Spurgeon, Paul ... et al.-- ESA Living Planet Symposium 28 June – 2 July 2010 Bergen, Norway

Surface coal mining in West Virginia has supplied energy to the eastern coast of the United States for over a century. Over the years, the coal mining industry has been forced to adapt as societal demands regarding health, safety, and environmental impacts have changed. More recent pressure has called for another iteration of change: long-term post-mining sustainability. The research presented in this thesis investigates one potential solution—or component of a solution—to improve the sustainability of surface coal mining in West Virginia: post-mining wind power. This thesis intends to demonstrate and explain the feasibility of synergistic mine closure and wind development. Wind conditions at three reclaimed mine sites in West Virginia were monitored in order to develop representative case studies for post-mining wind power. This report contains a summary of the literature consulted to plan the site assessments, the methodology employed to execute them, the analysis steps undertaken to derive conclusions, and a discussion of all findings. This research has found that significant cost savings can be yielded from synergistic mine closure and wind development, as compared to greenfield wind development. Though wind conditions themselves remain the primary driver for site feasibility, post-mining wind power is a practice with significant promise for improving project economics, contributing to renewable energy development, enhancing company-community relations, providing local employment opportunities, and exemplifying sustainable business practices in Appalachia. Master of Science