Ten Years of Remote Sensing at Barcelona Expert Center

Abstract

The Barcelona Expert Centre (BEC) (http://bec.icm.csic.es) is a joint initiative between the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). It was created in 2007 to provide support to the Spanish SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission activities. Nowadays, BEC activities cover a wide variety of topics: - Improvements on calibration, image reconstruction and stability of radiometric data. - Synergy of observations from different sensors and data sources. - Retrieval of geophysical variables: forward modeling and non-linear inversion. - Validation and quality control - Assimilation into atmospheric and ocean models. - Generation of added-value products at Levels 3 and 4.

This Special Issue is mainly dedicated to publishing papers on new scientific results covering topics, such as: - Microwave radiometry, scatterometry, SAR, GNSS-R. - Sensor calibration. - Image reconstruction. - Ocean Remote Sensing: salinity, winds, sea ice, currents, temperature, etc. - Soil Moisture. - Retrieval algorithms.

- SMOS Third Mission Reprocessing after 10 Years in Orbit https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12101645. - Deriving VTEC Maps from SMOS Radiometric Data https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12101604. - Real-time Reconstruction of Surface Velocities from Satellite Observations in the Alboran Sea https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12040724. - Assessment with Controlled In-Situ Data of the Dependence of L-Band Radiometry on Sea-Ice Thickness https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12040650. - Assessment of Multi-Scale SMOS and SMAP Soil Moisture Products across the Iberian Peninsula https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030570. - Assimilation of Satellite Salinity for Modelling the Congo River Plume https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010011. - Quantifying Tidal Fluctuations in Remote Sensing Infrared SST Observations https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11192313. - Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) Benefits for the Copernicus Level 4 Sea-Surface Salinity Processing Chain https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11151818. - In Situ and Satellite Sea Surface Salinity in the Algerian Basin Observed through ABACUS Glider Measurements and BEC SMOS Regional Products https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11111361. - A Synergetic Approach for the Space-Based Sea Surface Currents Retrieval in the Mediterranean Sea https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11111285. - Wide Field of View Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Imaging https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11060682. - Dominant Features of Global Surface Soil Moisture Variability Observed by the SMOS Satellite https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11010095. - Assessment of Root Zone Soil Moisture Estimations from SMAP, SMOS and MODIS Observations https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10070981. - Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll Concentration Coherence https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12071153