LPRM_WINDSAT_DY_SOILM3: Daily Global Soil Moisture from Satellite Microwave

WindSat/Coriolis satellite data processed by the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) provides three key land surface variables: surface soil moisture, land surface (skin) temperature, and vegetation water content. This Level 3 gridded dataset offers daily, daytime-only observations at a 25 km resolution from February 2003 to July 2012. A unique feature of the LPRM method is its applicability across any microwave frequency, enabling the synthesis of data from various satellite sensors.

Use Cases

• Monitoring drought conditions and agricultural water stress based on daily surface soil moisture retrievals.
• Validating and calibrating land surface models using concurrent measurements of soil moisture, skin temperature, and vegetation water content.
• Analyzing long-term trends in surface hydrology and vegetation dynamics over the 2003-2012 period.
• Studying the radiative transfer of microwaves over land surfaces using the model-derived vegetation optical depth parameter.

Strengths

• Provides three physically consistent land parameters (soil moisture, skin temperature, vegetation water) derived from a unified radiative transfer model.
• Covers a significant, continuous 9.5-year period from February 2003 to July 2012.
• Has a cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov, indicating recognized utility and archival stability.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is reported as both 2012-08-01 and 2026-04 09, suggesting possible archival updates without new data.
• Column names and precise data structure are not provided in any source description, complicating initial use.
• Limited to daytime ascending passes only; a separate nighttime product is required for diurnal cycle analysis.

Provenance

Source

GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center), NASA.

Collection Method

Derived from polarimetric microwave radiometer data from the WindSat instrument on the Coriolis satellite using the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM).

Time Range

February 2003 to July 2012

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:40:51.965030

Geography

Global land coverage