Inter-Comparison of SMOS and Aquarius Brightness Temperatures at L-Band over Selected Targets

Abstract

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite on November 2, 2009, to globally monitoring surface soil moisture over the landmasses and salinity over the oceans. Its single payload is the first two-dimensional Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS), an instrument that provides multi-angular L-band measurements in the field of view (from 0† to 65°) and has full-polarimetric capabilities (measures H, V and HV polarizations). The next satellite devoted to global sea surface salinity monitoring is the Aquarius/SAC-D, which was launched on June 9, 2011, by a collaboration between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Argentinian Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE). It includes three beam push-broom L-band real aperture radiometers and real aperture scatterometers, both full-polarimetric and feeded by the same reflector at three incidence angles (28.7°, 37.8° and 45.6° for the inner, the middle and the outer beams)