Comparison of NOAA-CREST Soil Moisture Measurements with AMSR-2

In October 2014, the Soil Moisture Active and Passive mission (SMAP) will launch into a near-polar and sun- synchronous orbit. SMAP includes the first 3 KM resolution product, by both radar and radiometer sensors which will transmit useful information concentrating on the global measurements of soil moisture and freeze/thaw cycles. NOAA- CREST (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology) deploys a series of in-situ devices into the soil, and an L-BAND Radiometer close to the site ground at the Cary Institute in Millbrook, NY. The site is important for future validation of SMAP mission. Comparing mathematical and ground based remote sensing of soil moisture is beneficial to ensure the accuracy of the measurements. The focus of this research is to analyze and compare soil moisture from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), which collects and distributes AMSR-2 data products along with Cary Institute's soil moisture measurements during the same time period and location. In the interest of establishing superb authentication; comparing AMSR-2 data products and ground measurements will justify the accuracy of the newly launch satellite. Several techniques and statistical methods will provide a more meaningful comparison to analyze soil moisture data. The results of this project will help to provide a useful method to compare the NOAA-CREST soil moisture measurements and SMAP measurements in the future. The method was used in this study will develop an algorithm to upscale point measurements of soil moisture to footprint of microwave radiometers.