SMEX04 Aircraft Microwave Radiometer Data for Arizona Soil Moisture

SMEX04 Aircraft Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) Data includes brightness temperature and soil moisture measurements from Arizona. The airborne microwave imaging radiometer was developed and operated by NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory. Data support is limited as documentation was provided solely by the Principal Investigators and not reviewed by NSIDC.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived soil moisture products using PSR brightness temperature measurements.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of soil moisture water content in Arizona during the SMEX04 campaign.
• Studying land-atmosphere interactions by correlating microwave brightness temperature with ground soil conditions.
• Developing or testing soil moisture retrieval algorithms from polarimetric microwave data.

Strengths

• Data originates from a specialized airborne instrument (NOAA PSR) providing direct microwave radiometer measurements.
• Includes two key geophysical variables: brightness temperature and soil moisture water content.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: last update date is listed as both 2004-08-26 and 2026-03 12.
• Documentation was not reviewed or edited by the hosting center (NSIDC), leading to potential support issues.
• No column names, row counts, or specific file sizes are provided across any platform.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Technology Laboratory.

Collection Method

Data acquired with the airborne Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) instrument.

Time Range

2004 (SMEX04 campaign).

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:18:30.506147

Geography

Arizona, USA.