ETL Test of New Sensor During SMEX02 is Successful

Contact: Al Gasiewski

Soil moisture plays a critical role in agriculture, and impacts regional weather forecasting, flash flood warning, wildfire dynamics, and biogeochemical exchange. In response to a growing need to accurately measure soil moisture, ETL has tested a sensor for use on aircraft that is capable of providing soil moisture maps with ~500 m resolution over large areas. The sensor, based on the NOAA Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) system, uses two microwave bands (C- and X-band) to measure the emission signature of water within the top ~1-2 centimeters of soil. Using two bands helps account for the emission effects of the overlying vegetation cover by providing a measure of the amount of attenuation caused by the vegetation. The system was successfully demonstrated in Iowa this summer as part of the joint NASA-NOAA-USDA "Soil Moisture Experiments in 2002" field campaign (SMEX02).

Soil moisture measurements facilitate improvements in environmental prediction by more accurate parameterization of several basic processes, including hydrological runoff potential, vegetation stress, boundary layer moisture and heat fluxes, and production rates of volatile organic compounds. The latter two processes influence the production of haze formation and the generation of tropospheric ozone. Accurate measurements of soil moisture can contribute to efficient irrigation practices and precise assessment of fire danger, and are especially important as much of the Nation endures one of its dryest growing seasons in years.

ETL Test of New Sensor During SMEX02 is Successful

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