SMAP L1B: Calibrated Earth Surface Brightness Temperatures

Global satellite data provides calibrated, time-ordered, and geolocated L-band brightness temperature measurements from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radiometer. This Level-1B product has been processed to remove undesired and erroneous radiometric sources, referencing the signal to the Earth's surface. The dataset is fundamental for deriving geophysical variables related to soil moisture and surface conditions.

Use Cases

• Calibrating soil moisture retrieval algorithms based on surface-referenced brightness temperatures.
• Analyzing temporal changes in land surface emissions using time-ordered, geolocated measurements.
• Validating and correcting radiative transfer models with calibrated L-band microwave data.
• Studying surface roughness and vegetation effects on passive microwave signals.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated and processed to remove erroneous radiometric sources, indicating a controlled quality assurance process.
• The dataset's presence on multiple authoritative platforms (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) signals its importance and reliability within the Earth science community.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, file size, specific columns, and license information is missing from all provided sources.
• The 'last updated' field shows a future date (2026-03 05), which is a conflict and indicates potential metadata freshness or accuracy issues.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite's passive microwave radiometer.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-05 19:51:29.098706

Geography

Global