SMOS NRT: Near Real-Time Soil Moisture and Brightness Temperature from Satellite

SMOS Near Real Time products provide Level 1 brightness temperature and Level 2 soil moisture estimates from satellite observations. The data is delivered in near real-time, with Level 1 products distributed in BUFR format and Level 2 products in NetCDF format. The European Space Agency (ESA) is the organization behind this dataset, which is also disseminated via the EUMETCast service and the WMO GTS Network.

Use Cases

• Assimilating near real-time soil moisture estimates into numerical weather prediction models based on the Level 2 neural network product.
• Monitoring land surface conditions and droughts using the geo-located brightness temperature data from the Level 1 product.
• Analyzing Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) contamination probability for data quality control, based on the uncertainty metrics provided.
• Studying soil moisture dynamics at the satellite track resolution on the SMOS Discrete Global Grid (DGG).

Strengths

• Provides two distinct data products: Level 1 brightness temperature and Level 2 soil moisture with uncertainty estimates.
• Spatial resolution is specified to be in the range of 30-50 kilometers.
• Level 1 data retains full angular resolution and is consolidated into full orbit segments of approximately 100 minutes.
• Distributed through multiple channels including direct download, EUMETCast, and the WMO GTS Network for broad accessibility.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The Level 2 product is only provided at the satellite track, not as a full global swath.
• Access to the EUMETCast service requires a Ku-band station within its European coverage area.

Provenance

Source

European Space Agency (ESA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission.

Time Range

Near real-time, but specific start and end dates are not provided.

Freshness

Data is described as 'Near Real Time', but the specific update frequency is not stated.

Geography

Global land coverage, as the products include data 'only for "land" pixels'.