2D-STAR: L-Band Brightness Temperatures from SMEX03 Aircraft Flights

Dual-polarized L-band brightness temperatures were collected by the Two-Dimensional Synthetic Aperture Radiometer (2D-STAR) instrument during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03). An aircraft carrying the sensor flew over Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, USA. This data set provides microwave radiometry measurements for soil moisture research.

Use Cases

• Calibrating satellite soil moisture products based on airborne L-band brightness temperature measurements.
• Developing soil moisture retrieval algorithms using dual-polarized microwave radiometry data.
• Validating synthetic aperture radiometer technology for geophysical parameter estimation.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of soil moisture across agricultural regions in the southeastern and central United States.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled scientific field campaign (Soil Moisture Experiment 2003).
• Contains dual-polarized L-band measurements, a key frequency for soil moisture sensing.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance for the research community.

Limitations

• Documentation was provided solely by the Principal Investigator(s) and not reviewed by NSIDC, so support may be limited.
• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist (2003-07-15 vs. 2026-04-09), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

Principal Investigator(s) for the SMEX03 campaign; data hosted by NSIDC.

Collection Method

Airborne remote sensing using the Two-Dimensional Synthetic Aperture Radiometer (2D-STAR) instrument.

Time Range

2003

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:10:02.522071

Geography

Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, USA.