AirMOSS P-Band Radar Data for Root-Zone Soil Moisture Analysis

Level 1 polarimetric radar backscatter data was collected over the Howland Forest site in Maine by a NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft from 2012 to 2015. The AirMOSS P-band synthetic aperture radar instrument operates in the 420-440 MHz band to measure root-zone soil moisture. This dataset supports continental-scale analysis of seasonal soil moisture variability and its relationship to carbon fluxes.

Use Cases

• Retrieving root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) using polarimetric radar backscattering coefficient (sigma-0) measurements.
• Investigating seasonal and inter-annual variability in soil moisture across 10 North American study sites.
• Analyzing relationships between soil moisture and carbon fluxes at a continental scale.
• Calibrating and validating geophysical models with multilook complex and polarimetrically calibrated SAR data.
• Studying subcanopy and subsurface forest characteristics using P-band radar penetration.

Strengths

• Data is polarimetrically calibrated and georeferenced, providing a foundation for quantitative analysis.
• Covers a multi-year time series from at least 2012 to 2015, enabling study of temporal trends.
• Collected across 10 distinct study sites in North America, offering spatial diversity for analysis.
• Utilizes P-band SAR, which has unique penetration capabilities for subcanopy and subsurface sensing.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one listing 2015-09-09 and another listing 2026-03-13.
• The exact license terms are unclear, listed only as 'other-license-specified' on some platforms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Acquired via the Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) P-band synthetic aperture radar instrument flown on a NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft.

Time Range

2012 to 2015

Freshness

2026-03-13 19:17:37.343004

Geography

Howland Forest, Maine, and 9 other study sites across North America.