Main outcomes of the CoSMOS/NAFE campaign for the validation of the SMOS soil moisture retrieval algorithm

Kauzar Saleh Contell (1) , Yann H. Kerr (2) , Gilles Boulet (2) , Maria-José Escorihuela (2) , Philippe Maisongrande (3) , Philippe Richaume (2) , Patricia de Rosnay (2) , Jean-Pierre Wigneron (4) , Ernesto Lopez-Baeza (5) , Jennifer Grant (6) , Steven Delwart (7) , Michael Berger (8) , Rocco Panciera (9) , Jeff Walker (9)

1 Department of Geography [Cambridge, UK]
2 CESBIO - Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère
3 Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
4 EPHYSE - Écologie fonctionnelle et physique de l'environnement
5 UV - Universitat de València
6 VU - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam [Amsterdam]
7 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
8 ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency
9 University of Melbourne

The ESA CoSMOS study aims at performing the first validation of the SMOS Soil Moisture Level 2algorithm using real data. The validation relies on data acquired during the CoSMOS/NAFE campaign in the Goulburn River Catchment (Southeast Australia) in 2005. The CoSMOS/ NAFE airborne campaign involved two L-band radiometers, EMIRAD (full- pol, bi-angular) and PLMR (dual-pol, multi-angular), and provided L- band data at different resolutions for six weeks.Intensive ground sampling was carried out too to provide measurements of all the surface parameters required by the soil moisture retrieval algorithm. This communication presents the main outcomes of the study. The focus is threefold:i) how do simulations of the surface brightness temperature and soil moisture retrievals perform using the ^Ñdefault^Ò L2 algorithm over homogenous an heterogeneous surfaces? Ii) what recommendations can be made in terms of fine-tuning of the microwave model used by the SMOSretrieval algorithm (soil model, vegetation model, litter model), and iii) how does the retrieved soil moisture at the scale of a SMOS pixel compare to ground measurements of soil moisture across the catchment? These questions are addressed in the ESA CoSMOS study, which makes a comprehensive data set available for validation of the SMOS Level 2 algorithm, and is currently at the phase of performing the forward model simulations and soil moisture retrievals.

Mots clés: télédétection, analyse de données, radiométrie, mission SMOS

Domaines: Milieux et Changements globaux

Kauzar Saleh Contell, Yann H. Kerr, Gilles Boulet, Maria-José Escorihuela, Philippe Maisongrande, et al.. Main outcomes of the CoSMOS/NAFE campaign for the validation of the SMOS soil moisture retrieval algorithm. 10. Specialist Meeting on Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment, Labo/service de l'auteur, Ville service, Pays service., Mar 2008, Firenze, Italy. ⟨hal-02819386⟩