IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (Jan 2022)
Validation of Soil Moisture Data Products From the NASA SMAP Mission
- Andreas Colliander,
- Rolf H. Reichle,
- Wade T. Crow,
- Michael H. Cosh,
- Fan Chen,
- Steven Chan,
- Narendra Narayan Das,
- Rajat Bindlish,
- Julian Chaubell,
- Seungbum Kim,
- Qing Liu,
- Peggy E. O'Neill,
- R. Scott Dunbar,
- Land B. Dang,
- John S. Kimball,
- Thomas J. Jackson,
- Hala Khalid Al-Jassar,
- Jun Asanuma,
- Bimal K. Bhattacharya,
- Aaron A. Berg,
- David D. Bosch,
- Laura Bourgeau-Chavez,
- Todd Caldwell,
- Jean-Christophe Calvet,
- Chandra Holifield Collins,
- Karsten H. Jensen,
- Stan Livingston,
- Ernesto Lopez-Baeza,
- Jose Martinez-Fernandez,
- Heather McNairn,
- Mahta Moghaddam,
- Carsten Montzka,
- Claudia Notarnicola,
- Thierry Pellarin,
- Isabella Greimeister-Pfeil,
- Jouni Pulliainen,
- Judith Gpe. Ramos,
- Mark Seyfried,
- Patrick J. Starks,
- Zhongbo Su,
- R. van der Velde,
- Yijian Zeng,
- Marc Thibeault,
- Mariette Vreugdenhil,
- Jeffrey P. Walker,
- Mehrez Zribi,
- Dara Entekhabi,
- Simon H. Yueh
Affiliations
- Andreas Colliander
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Rolf H. Reichle
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Wade T. Crow
- ORCiD
- Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA
- Michael H. Cosh
- ORCiD
- Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA
- Fan Chen
- ORCiD
- Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA
- Steven Chan
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Narendra Narayan Das
- ORCiD
- Department of Civil and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Rajat Bindlish
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Julian Chaubell
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Seungbum Kim
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Qing Liu
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Peggy E. O'Neill
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- R. Scott Dunbar
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Land B. Dang
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- John S. Kimball
- ORCiD
- Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
- Thomas J. Jackson
- ORCiD
- Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA
- Hala Khalid Al-Jassar
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait
- Jun Asanuma
- ORCiD
- Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- Bimal K. Bhattacharya
- Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Ahmedabad, India
- Aaron A. Berg
- ORCiD
- Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
- David D. Bosch
- ORCiD
- Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Tifton, GA, USA
- Laura Bourgeau-Chavez
- ORCiD
- Michigan Technical Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Todd Caldwell
- ORCiD
- Nevada Water Science Center, US Geological Survey, Carson City, NV, USA
- Jean-Christophe Calvet
- CNRM, Université de Toulouse, Météo-France, CNRS, Toulouse, France
- Chandra Holifield Collins
- Southwest Watershed Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Karsten H. Jensen
- University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Stan Livingston
- National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, West Lafayette, IN, USA
- Ernesto Lopez-Baeza
- ORCiD
- University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Jose Martinez-Fernandez
- ORCiD
- Instituto Hispano Luso de Investigaciones Agrarias (CIALE), Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- Heather McNairn
- ORCiD
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Mahta Moghaddam
- ORCiD
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Carsten Montzka
- ORCiD
- Research Center Juelich, Institute of Bio- and Geosciences: Agrosphere, Juelich, Germany
- Claudia Notarnicola
- ORCiD
- EURAC-Institute for Earth Observation, Bolzano, Italy
- Thierry Pellarin
- University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, Grenoble, France
- Isabella Greimeister-Pfeil
- ORCiD
- Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
- Jouni Pulliainen
- ORCiD
- Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
- Judith Gpe. Ramos
- ORCiD
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
- Mark Seyfried
- Northwest Watershed Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Boise, ID, USA
- Patrick J. Starks
- ORCiD
- Grazinglands Research Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, El Reno, OK, USA
- Zhongbo Su
- University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
- R. van der Velde
- ORCiD
- University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
- Yijian Zeng
- ORCiD
- University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
- Marc Thibeault
- ORCiD
- Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Mariette Vreugdenhil
- ORCiD
- Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
- Jeffrey P. Walker
- ORCiD
- Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
- Mehrez Zribi
- CESBIO, Université de Toulouse, CNRS/UPS/IRD/CNES/INRAE, Toulouse, France
- Dara Entekhabi
- ORCiD
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Simon H. Yueh
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3124743
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 15
pp. 364 – 392
Abstract
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission has been validating its soil moisture (SM) products since the start of data production on March 31, 2015. Prior to launch, the mission defined a set of criteria for core validation sites (CVS) that enable the testing of the key mission SM accuracy requirement (unbiased root-mean-square error <0.04 m3/m3). The validation approach also includes other (“sparse network”) in situ SM measurements, satellite SM products, model-based SM products, and field experiments. Over the past six years, the SMAP SM products have been analyzed with respect to these reference data, and the analysis approaches themselves have been scrutinized in an effort to best understand the products’ performance. Validation of the most recent SMAP Level 2 and 3 SM retrieval products (R17000) shows that the L-band (1.4 GHz) radiometer-based SM record continues to meet mission requirements. The products are generally consistent with SM retrievals from the European Space Agency Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity mission, although there are differences in some regions. The high-resolution (3-km) SM retrieval product, generated by combining Copernicus Sentinel-1 data with SMAP observations, performs within expectations. Currently, however, there is limited availability of 3-km CVS data to support extensive validation at this spatial scale. The most recent (version 5) SMAP Level 4 SM data assimilation product providing surface and root-zone SM with complete spatio–temporal coverage at 9-km resolution also meets performance requirements. The SMAP SM validation program will continue throughout the mission life; future plans include expanding it to forested and high-latitude regions.
Keywords
