SMAP At Work - NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive Satellite

The Alaska Satellite Facility is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

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NASA's SMAP satellite will measure global soil moisture every three days for three years--including soil's freeze-thaw state. These measurements will be used to:

1) further understanding of processes that link the water, energy, and carbon cycles;
2) enhance weather and climate prediction models;
3) quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes; and
4) develop improved flood-prediction and drought-monitoring capabilities.

Observatory: The SMAP spacecraft features an instrument suite deployed by an expendable launch vehicle into a 680-km, near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit, with equator crossings at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time. SMAP provides global coverage within three days at the equator and two days at boreal latitudes.

Instrument: The instrument includes a radiometer and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), operating at L-band (1.20-1.41 GHz), that measure surface emission and backscatter, sensing soil conditions through moderate vegetation cover.

Operations: SMAP science measurements will be acquired for three years. A comprehensive validation program will be carried out after launch to assess the accuracies of soil-moisture and freeze-thaw estimates. Data products from the SMAP mission will be made available through the Alaska Satellite Facility DAAC and the NSIDC DAAC.

CREDITS

Produced by the Alaska Satellite Facility SAR DAAC
In cooperation with NASA / JPL

Additional material courtesy of Lucas A. Jones, John S. Kimball, Joseph Glassy (University of Montana); National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC (NSIDC); Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center; International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme; Globaia; UN Foundation; Ubaldo Fernandez;