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Title: EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL ERROR SOURCES FOR SOIL MOISTURE RETRIEVAL FROM SATELLITE MICROWAVE RADIOMETER

Author
item SHI, J - UNIV OF CA-SANTA BARBARA
item NJOKU, ENI - NASA JPL
item Jackson, Thomas
item O'NEILL, PEGGY - NASA GSFC

Submitted to: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2006
Publication Date: 7/31/2006
Citation: Shi, J., Njoku, E., Jackson, T.J., O'Neill, P. 2006. Evaluation of potential error source for soil moisture retrieval from satellite microwave radiometer. In: Proceedings of the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, July 31 - August 31, 2006, Denver, Colorado. p. 2035-2039.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Investigations have demonstrated the capability of passive in soil moisture mapping. Currently, there are several satellite’s microwave instruments available including AMSR-E, SSM/I, WINSAT, and TMI at frequencies C-band or higher. The long wavelength L-band instrument SMOS will be available in 2007. Many investigations have been focused on the studies of effects of natural variability and the complexity of the vegetation canopy and surface roughness significantly on the sensitivity of brightness temperature to soil moisture and the retrieval algorithm development. However, there are also other error sources in soil moisture retrieval due to the complexity of the natural Earth surfaces such as effects of RFI, snow cover, open water, and terrain at the radiometer pixel or sub-pixel scales. In order to assess potential error sources in soil moisture retrieval process from the passive microwave satellite data, we carried out numerical simulations to evaluate the impacts of snow cover, open water, and terrain on the estimation of soil moisture. Results quantify the errors introduced in soil moisture estimation.