SMOSHiLat - Microwave L-band emission from organic-rich soils in the northern cold climate zone in the framework of the SMOS mission

• Main Authors: Bircher, Simone, Wigneron, Jean-Pierre, Demontoux, François, Scwhank, Mike, Jonard, François, Razafindratsima, Stephen, Mironov, Valery, Richaume, Philippe, Mialon, Arnaud, Weihermüller, Lutz, Rautiainen, Kimmo, Pulliainen, Jouni, Jensen, Karsten Høgh, Kerr, Yann H.
• Other Authors: Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère (CESBIO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère (UMR ISPA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux-Aquitaine (Bordeaux Sciences Agro), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB), Gamma Remote Sensing, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association, Laboratory of Radiophysics of the Earth Remote Sensing, Partenaires INRAE, Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). USA.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: SMOSHiLat; radiometer; L Band; organic soil; moisture; dielectric constants; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; [SPI.SIGNAL]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Signal and Image processing; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; [SPI.ELEC]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Electromagnetism; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Canada; Sodankylä; Tundra
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02799025; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02799025/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02799025/file/Bircher-IGARSS2014-2322_1.pdf

International audience The circumpolar northern colder climate zone (boreal zone/tundra) is covered by pronounced organic soils. Due to above-average rising temperatures in the higher northern latitudes, a large amount of these important carbon sinks might be released, possibly causing a significant positive feedback on global warming. Thus, there is a strong need to monitor hydrologic processes in these regions. The ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission carries the first space-borne passive L-band microwave (1.4 GHz) radiometer on board. It acquires global brightness temperatures (TB) from which surface soil moisture is retrieved, taking advantage of the very large difference between the dielectric constant of dry soil and water at this frequency. The retrieval algorithm is based on the L-band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere (L-MEB) model which uses tuning parameters derived from study sites in dry and warm temperate climate zones. In order to improve our understanding of L-band emissions of organic soil surface layers and thus, supporting the quality of SMOS data in the northern colder climate zone the SMOSHiLat project has been evoked in the framework of ESA's Changing Earth Science Network. It aims at creating a database including L-band TBs and dielectric constant values of soils, mainly from two northern study sites in Sodankylä, Finland (Finnish Meteorological Institue, FMI), and Gludsted, Denmark (Hydrologic OBsErvatory, HOBE). Based on this database the L-MEB model is adapted for organic soils encountered in Northern regions and tested in the SMOS soil moisture prototype retrieval algorithm in view of its implementation in the operational one.