On the synergy of SMOS and Terra/Aqua MODIS: High resolution soil moisture maps in near real-time

An innovative downscaling approach to obtain fine-scale soil moisture estimates from 40 km SMOS observations has been developed. It optimally blends SMOS multi-angular and full-polarimetric information with MODIS visible/data into high resolution soil moisture maps. The core of the algorithm is a mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Piles, M., Vall-llossera, M., Camps, A., Sanchez, N., Martinez-Fernandez, J., Martinez, J., Gonzalez-Gambau, V., Riera, R.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Correlation
MODIS
Optical sensors
Soil measurements
Soil moisture
Spatial resolution
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:An innovative downscaling approach to obtain fine-scale soil moisture estimates from 40 km SMOS observations has been developed. It optimally blends SMOS multi-angular and full-polarimetric information with MODIS visible/data into high resolution soil moisture maps. The core of the algorithm is a model that linksmicrowave/optical sensitivity to soilmoisture and linearly relates the two instruments across spatial scales. This algorithm has been implemented at SMOS-BEC facilities and near real-time maps of disaggregated soil moisture over the Iberian Peninsula are being distributed. In this work, the temporal and spatial variability of these maps is evaluated through comparison with ground-basedmesurements acquired at the REMEDHUS soil moisture network, in the central part of the Duero basin, Spain. Results from a two-year time-series comparison show that downscaled soil moisture maps compare well with in situ data and nicely reproduce soil moisture dynamics at a 1 km spatial scale.
ISSN:2153-6996
2153-7003
DOI:10.1109/IGARSS.2013.6723564