Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory
Title: Validation practices for satellite soil moisture retrievals: What are (the) errors?Author
GRUBER, A. - Leuven University | |
DE LANNOY, G. - Leuven University | |
ALBERGEL, C. - University Of Toulouse | |
AL-YARRI, A. - French National Institute For Agricultural Research | |
BROCCA, L. - National Research Council - Italy | |
CALVET, J.-C. - University Of Toulouse | |
COLLIANDER, A. - Jet Propulsion Laboratory | |
Cosh, Michael | |
Crow, Wade | |
DORIGO, W.A. - Vienna University Of Technology | |
DRAPER, C. - Goddard Space Flight Center | |
HIRSCHI, M. - Eth Zurich | |
KERR, Y. - University Of Toulouse | |
KONINGS, A. - University Of Stanford | |
LAHOZ, W. - Collaborator | |
MCCOLL, K. - Harvard University | |
MONTZKKA, C. - Juelich Research Center | |
MUNOZ-SABATER, J. - European Centre For Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) | |
PENG, J. - Oxford University | |
REICHLE, R. - Goddard Space Flight Center | |
RICHAUME, P. - University Of Toulouse | |
RUDIGER, C. - Monash University | |
SCANLON, T.M. - University Of Virginia | |
VAN DER SCHALIE, R. - Collaborator | |
WIGNERON, J. - French National Institute For Agricultural Research |
Submitted to: Remote Sensing of Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2020 Publication Date: 7/1/2020 Citation: Gruber, A., De Lannoy, G., Albergel, C., Al-Yarri, A., Brocca, L., Calvet, J., Colliander, A., Cosh, M.H., Crow, W.T., Dorigo, W., Draper, C., Hirschi, M., Kerr, Y., Konings, A., Lahoz, W., Mccoll, K., Montzkka, C., Munoz-Sabater, J., Peng, J., Reichle, R., Richaume, P., Rudiger, C., Scanlon, T., Van Der Schalie, R., Wigneron, J. 2020. Validation practices for satellite soil moisture retrievals: What are (the) errors? Remote Sensing of Environment. 244:111806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111806. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111806 Interpretive Summary: Soil moisture is an important climate variable due to its direct impact on the land surface water, energy, and nutrient cycles. Satellite observations that are suitable to derive global estimates of soil moisture are now widely available. However, these new products must be credibly validated against ground-based observations before they can be widely applied with confidence. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art for soil moisture validation techniques and establishes consensus best-practice approaches, and associated terminology, for these techniques. The concepts developed by the paper will be used by resource and space agencies in multiple countries to further the application of these data products for important agricultural monitoring and water resource applications. Technical Abstract: This paper presents a community report to develop good practice guidelines for the validation of global coarse-scale satellite soil moisture products. We provide theoretical background, a review of state-of-the-art methodologies for estimating errors in soil moisture data sets, practical recommendations on data pre-processing and presentation of statistical results, and a recommended validation protocol that is supplemented with an example validation exercise focused on microwave-based surface soil moisture products. We conclude by identifying research gaps that should be addressed in the near future. |