SMEX03 Land and Soil Temperature Measurements for Alabama

SMEX03 Surface and Soil Temperature Measurements: Alabama, Version 1 contains land surface and soil temperature data collected during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003. The dataset was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and focuses on northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. Data collection occurred in 2003, though platform metadata shows conflicting last updated dates.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived land surface temperature estimates using ground-based measurements.
• Analyzing the relationship between soil temperature and soil moisture for hydrological studies.
• Modeling land surface energy fluxes and thermal properties in agricultural or regional climate models.
• Studying diurnal and seasonal variations in surface temperature within a specific geographic region.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled scientific field experiment (Soil Moisture Experiment 2003).
• Provided by an authoritative source, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• Focuses on a specific, well-documented geographic region (northern Alabama and southern Tennessee).

Limitations

• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata: DataGov lists 2026-03 12 (likely administrative), while NASA Earthdata lists 2003-07-02 (collection period).
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• The exact license terms under 'other-license-specified' are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) field campaign.

Time Range

2003

Freshness

2026 03 12 21:19:31.384344 (from DataGov, likely an administrative update; core data is from 2003).

Geography

Northern Alabama and southern Tennessee, USA