Airborne P-band Radar Data for Root-Zone Soil Moisture

AirMOSS Level 1 data contains polarimetric radar backscattering coefficients (sigma-0) from a NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft. The dataset covers at least biannual flight campaigns from 2012 to 2015 across 10 study sites in North America, focusing on the MOISST site in Oklahoma. Collected by NASA, this P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is designed for retrieving root-zone soil moisture to analyze its seasonal variability and relationship to continental carbon fluxes.

Use Cases

• Retrieving root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) using polarimetric radar backscatter coefficients (sigma-0).
• Analyzing seasonal and inter-annual variability in soil moisture across North American study sites.
• Investigating relationships between soil moisture and carbon fluxes on a continental scale.
• Calibrating and validating satellite or other airborne soil moisture measurement systems.

Strengths

• Data is polarimetrically calibrated and georeferenced, providing precise spatial and polarization information.
• Covers a multi-year time series (2012-2015) with at least biannual campaigns, enabling temporal analysis.
• Collected across 10 distinct study sites, offering continental-scale spatial coverage.

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 2015-08 and another listing 2026-03, suggesting potential metadata inconsistencies.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Data gathered by 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 19:15:53.404121

Geography

10 study sites across North America, with specific data provided for the MOISST site in Oklahoma.