SMAP-1

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http//smap.jpl.nasa.gov/
Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP)
Mission Biodiversity Ecosystem
Forecasting Team Meeting May 7, 2009 Jared K.
Entin Program Scientist Terrestrial Hydrology
Program Manager
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
08/28/2008
SMAP-1
JPL/Caltech proprietary. Not for public release
or redistribution. For planning and discussion
purposes only.
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Mission Science Objectives

• Global mapping of Soil Moisture and Freeze/Thaw
  state to
• Understand processes that link the terrestrial
  water, energy carbon cycles
• Estimate global water and energy fluxes at the
  land surface
• Quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes
• Enhance weather and climate forecast skill
• Develop improved flood prediction and drought
  monitoring capability

Primary Controls on Land Evaporation and
Biosphere Primary Productivity
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SMAP Science and Applications
SMAP in Decadal Survey
Decadal Survey Panels Cited SMAP Applications
Water Resources and Hydrological Cycle Floods and Drought Forecasts Available Water Resources Assessment Link Terrestrial Water, Energy and Carbon Cycles
Climate / Weather Longer-Term and More Reliable Atmospheric Forecasts
Human Health and Security Heat Stress and Drought Vector-Borne and Water-Borne Infectious Disease
Land-Use, Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Ecosystem Response (Variability and Change) Agricultural and Ecosystem Productivity Wild-Fires Mineral Dust Production
the SMAP mission is ready for fast-track
towards launch as early as 2012, when there are
few scheduled Earth missions. The readiness of
the SMAP mission also enables gap-filling
observations to meet key NPOESS community needs
(soil moisture is Key Parameter, see 4.1.6.1.6
in IORD-II Document).
SMAP is one of four missions recommended by the
NRC Earth Science Decadal Survey for launch in
the 2010-2013 time frame
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SMAP Mission Concept

• Mission Development Schedule
• Phase A start September 2008
• SRR/MDR February 2009
• PDR December 2009
• CDR December 2010
• SIR October 2011
• Instrument Delivery April 2012
• LRD March 2013
• Mission operations duration 3 years

• Orbit
• Sun-synchronous, 6 am/pm orbit
• 670 km altitude
• Instruments
• L-band (1.26 GHz) radar
• High resolution, moderate accuracy soil moisture
• Freeze/thaw state detection
• SAR mode 3 km resolution
• Real-aperture mode 30 x 6 km resolution
• L-band (1.4 GHz) radiometer
• Moderate resolution, high accuracy soil moisture
• 40 km resolution
• Shared instrument antenna
• 6-m diameter deployable mesh antenna
• Conical scan at 14.6 rpm
• Constant incidence angle 40 degrees
• 1000 km-wide swath
• Swath and orbit enable 2-3 day revisit

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SMAP Data Will Enable Reliable Estimates of
Changes to Future Water Availability
Changes to water availability is a critical
practical impact of global warming on society.
How will global change affect water supply and
food production?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
climate model projections by region
Models disagree on whether there will be MORE or
LESS water compared to today
Models agree on direction of temperature change
Without SMAP data we cannot tell which hydrology
models are accurate. With SMAP data we will be
able to make reliable determination of future
changes in available water.
Li et al., (2007) Evaluation of IPCC AR4 soil
moisture simulations for the second half of the
twentieth century, Journal of Geophysical
Research, 112.
SMAP-5
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Link Terrestrial Water, Energy and Carbon Cycle
Processes
Water and Energy Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Soil Moisture Controls the Rate of Continental
Water and Cycles
Landscape Freeze/Thaw Dynamics Drive Boreal
Carbon Balance The Missing Carbon Sink Problem.
Do Climate Models Correctly Represent the
Landsurface Control on Water and Energy Fluxes?
What Are the Regional Water Cycle Impacts of
Climate Variability?
Are Northern Land Masses Sources or Sinks for
Atmospheric Carbon?
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Quantify Net Carbon Flux in Boreal Landscapes
SMAP will complement atmospheric CO2 monitoring
by providing important information on the land
surface processes that control land-atmosphere
carbon source/sink dynamics. It will provide
more than 8-fold increase in spatial resolution
over existing spaceborne sensors.
Annual comparison of pan-Arctic thaw date and
high latitude growing season onset inferred from
atmospheric CO2 samples, 1988 2001
Mean growing season onset for 1988 2002 derived
from coarse resolution SSM/I data
McDonald et al. (2004) Variability in springtime
thaw in the terrestrial high latitudes
Monitoring a major control on the biospheric
assimilation of atmospheric CO2 with spaceborne
microwave remote sensing. Earth Interactions
8(20), 1-23.
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Extend Weather and Climate Forecast Skill
Predictability of seasonal climate is dependent
on boundary conditions such as sea surface
temperature (SST) and soil moisture Soil
moisture is particularly important over
continental interiors.
24-Hours Ahead High-Resolution Atmospheric Model
Forecasts
Prediction driven by SST
Difference in Summer Rainfall 1993 (flood) minus
1988 (drought) years
Without Realistic Soil Moisture
Observations
Prediction driven by SST and soil moisture
Buffalo Creek Basin
Observed Rainfall 0000Z to 0400Z 13/7/96 (Chen et
al., 2001)
(Schubert et al., 2002)
With Realistic Soil Moisture
High resolution soil moisture data will improve
numerical weather prediction (NWP) over
continents by accurately initializing land
surface states
-5 0 5
Rainfall Difference mm/day
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Develop Improved Flood and Drought Prediction
Capability
delivery of flash-flood guidance to weather
forecast offices are centrally dependent on the
availability of soil moisture estimates and
observations. SMAP will provide realistic and
reliable soil moisture observations that will
potentially open a new era in drought monitoring
and decision-support.
Decadal Survey
Operational Drought Indices Produced by NOAA and
National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC)
NOAA National Weather Service Operational Flash
Flood Guidance (FFG)

• Current Status Indirect soil moisture indices
  are based on rainfall and air temperature
• (by county or 30
  km)
• SMAP Capability Direct soil moisture
  measurements global, 3-day, 10 km resolution

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Applications and User Engagement

• By providing direct measurements of soil moisture
  and freeze/thaw state, SMAP will enable a variety
  of societal benefits
• Near-term SMAP applications outreach will be
  focused on
• 1. Developing a community of end-users,
  stakeholders, and decision makers that understand
  SMAP capabilities and are interested in using
  SMAP products in their application (SMAP
  Community of Practice).
• 2. Developing an assessment of current
  application benefits / requirements and needs for
• SMAP products (survey).
• 3. Identifying a handful of early adopters who
  will partner to optimize their use of
• SMAP products, possibly even before launch
  as part of the extended OSSE activities
• (targeted partners).
• 4. Providing information about SMAP to the broad
  user community

Droughts Floods/Landslides
Agriculture Weather/Climate
Human Health
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DoD Relevance

• US Army Space and Missile Defense Command,
• Army Research Laboratory, G-2, Corps of
  Engineers,
• and Marine Corps will use
  experiment data to validate
• and improve tools to evaluate
  threat and friendly mobility
• 1. Cross Country Mobility (CCM)
• 2. Tri-Service Integrated Weather Effects
  Decision Aid (IWEDA)
• 3. Battlespace Terrain Reasoning / Awareness
  (BTRA)
• 4. Opportune Landing System (OLS)
• 5. Integrated air and space operations support

• Air Force Weather Agency will use experiment
  data to
• Initialize Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP)
  model for aviation weather, severe weather and
  fog forecasts
• Input into Dust Transport Model (DTM)

Naval Ice Center will use experiment data for
high resolution mapping of marine and littoral
ice cover and ice characteristics
Documentation 1. AFSPC weather information key
EDR 2. JROC IORD-II EDR KPP 4.1.6.1.6 (Category
1-A)
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SMAP Mission Uniqueness
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Science L1 Requirements
Requirement Hydro-Meteorology Hydro-Climatology Carbon Cycle Baseline Mission Baseline Mission Minimum Mission Minimum Mission
Requirement Hydro-Meteorology Hydro-Climatology Carbon Cycle Soil Moisture Freeze/ Thaw Soil Moisture Freeze/ Thaw
Resolution 4-15 km 50-100 km 1-10 km 10 km 3 km 10 km 10 km
Refresh Rate 2-3 days 3-4 days 2-3 days(1) 3 days 2 days(1) 3 days 3 days(1)
Accuracy 4-6 4-6 80-70 4 80 6 70
(1)North of 45N latitude
Baseline Mission Duration Requirement is 3 Years
(Decadal Survey)
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Science Products
Data Product Description
L1B_S0_LoRes Low Resolution Radar so in Time Order
L1C_S0_HiRes High Resolution Radar so on Earth Grid
L1B_TB Radiometer TB in Time Order
L1C_TB Radiometer TB on Earth Grid
L2/3_F/T_HiRes Freeze/Thaw State on Earth Grid
L2/3_SM_HiRes Radar Soil Moisture on Earth Grid
L2/3_SM_40km Radiometer Soil Moisture on Earth Grid
L2/3_SM_A/P Radar/Radiometer Soil Moisture on Earth Grid
L4_F/T Freeze/Thaw Model Assimilation on Earth Grid
L4_4DDA Soil Moisture Model Assimilation on Earth Grid
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Science Definition Team (SDT)
Dara Entekhabi (MIT) Sci Team Lead Eni Njoku
(JPL) Proj Sci Peggy ONeill (GSFC) Dep Proj
Sci Wade Crow (USDA ARS) SM Assimilation Tom
Jackson (USDA ARS) Cal/Val Algorithm Joel
Johnson (Ohio St. U) RFI SM Algorithm John
Kimball (U-Mt) Frz/thw Alg. Carbon Cycle
Sci Randy Koster (GSFC) Wea/Clim model
initialization Kyle McDonald (JPL) Frz/thw Alg.
Carbon Cycle Sci Mahta Moghaddam (U
Mich) Algorithms Carbon Cycle Sci Susan Moran
(USDA ARS) Applications (Flood/Drought) Rolf
Reichle (GSFC) SM Assim. W/C initialization J.
C. Shi (UCSB) SM Retrieval Algorithm Leung
Tsang (U Wash) SM Retrieval Algorithm Jacob van
Zyl (JPL) SM Retrieval Algorithm
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Accurately Constraining Root-Zone Soil Moisture
Estimates using Remotely-Sensed Surface Soil
Moisture Observations

• Red areas indicate regions where the
  assimilation of AMSR-E surface soil moisture
  retrievals correct the RMSE impact of TRMM
  rainfall errors on modeled root-zone soil
  moisture predictions.
• Given potentially large errors in
  satellite-based rainfall products, results
  suggest a role for SMAP soil moisture retrievals
  in global ecologic applications requiring
  root-zone soil moisture information.

Research funded by the NASA Applied Sciences
Program (W. Crow, PI). Figures taken from
Bolten, Crow, Zhan, Jackson and Reynolds,
Evaluating the utility of remotely-sensed soil
moisture for agricultural drought applications,
IEEE Selected Topics is Applied Remote Sensing,
in revision, 2009.
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Project Status

• Project entered Phase A on September 24, 2008
• Held SMAP Field Experiment in Oct, 2008 to assess
  Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) at L-band and
  test mitigation strategies
• Science Definition Team was selected in Oct 2008
  held 1st meeting in Nov.
• 1st meetings held in Nov08, Mar09, and in late
  July09
• Project is making good progress on key Phase A
  trade studies and requirements and system
  interface definition as appropriate for Mission
  Design Review
• Project submitted Level one requirements to ESM
  and HQ
• Concluded major flight system architecture trades
  
• Initiated dynamics team, developed initial flight
  system dynamics and pointing model
• SDT completed an RFI risk assessment and has
  formally recommended to incorporate additional
  risk mitigation features.

SMAP-17
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Community Involvement

• SMAP has a public website
• SMAP science leadership have engaged operational
  applications communities
• NOAA NCEP/NWP NWS Office of Hydrology
  Development, ECMWF, AFWA have expressed specific
  and strong interest in using SMAP data
• NOAA has established a SMAP working team
  high-priority study topics
• SMAP held an Open Meeting at IGARSS, July 08 50
  people attended
• SMAP was well represented at the October
  Hydrology Workshop
• SMAP SDT Working Groups are established
  Applications, RFI, Algorithms, Cal/Val informal
  meetings were held at Fall AGU (Dec08)
• Planning future SMAP-related workshops, e.g., on
  Cal/Val Algorithms (June 2009).

SMAP-18
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Issues Future Plans

• SMAP has no technology readiness issues
• SMAP Science Project plans
• Algorithm testbed
• Data assimilation framework for level 4s
  operational requirements
• Using SMOS data as prototype for algorithm
  testing
• Algorithm refinement through field campaigns.
• SMAP is one of the first decadal survey missions
  to be implemented. Some of its issues can be
  raised to be considered at programmatic level
• Data latency requirements for science versus
  operational community desire
• Ground network capability to handle data volume
• Desire for common infrastructure

Connected
SMAP-19
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Algorithm Testbed
Will help evaluate the relative merits of
different microwave models, retrieval
algorithms, and ancillary data for meeting
SMAPs soil moisture and freeze/thaw science
objectives, based on a common set of input and
processing conditions.

• The SMAP Algorithm Testbed is currently under
  development and will be used to
• Evaluate the relative merits of different
  microwave models, retrieval algorithms, and
  ancillary data for meeting SMAPs soil moisture
  and freeze/thaw science objectives, based on a
  common set of input and processing conditions.
• Provide a system that can be used to test the
  integrated suite of SMAP science product
  algorithms as a prototype for the SMAP Science
  Data Processing System (SDS).
• The Testbed is based on the Observing System
  Simulation Experiment (OSSE) developed during the
  Hydros Risk-Reduction Phase.

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Applications and User Engagement

• Near-term SMAP applications outreach will be
  focused on
• 1. Develop an assessment of current application
  benefits / requirements for SMAP products (The
  Survey).
• 2. Develop a community of end-users that
  understand SMAP capabilities and are interested
  in using SMAP
• products in their application (SMAP Community
  of Practice).
• 3. Target partners who can work with SMAP project
  during pre-launch period. Possibly use the
• SMAP Algorithm Test-Bed for assessment of impact
  on their applications.
• (Targeted Partners) - NWP (NCEP, ECMWF,
  AFWA, Met Canada)
• - Operational Hydrology (NWS HRL)
• - Drought NIDS
• - DoD (ERDC, AFWA)
• 4. Provide information about SMAP to the Broad
  User Community (Web page, brochures, papers)
• 5. Develop New User communities
• - Ecological services - Inundation
  (biogeochemical cycles and flood)

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Thank You
http//smap.jpl.nasa.gov
Email Jared.K.Entin_at_nasa.gov