FIRST SOIL MOISTURE TEMPORAL EVOLUTION FROM SMOSJanuary 8 to June 30 2010[local /wp-content/uploads/2010/07/SMOS_6months_Video_4Imgperseconde_converted.mpg nolink]double click to enlarge
This small animation was produced in the framework of the Centre Aval de Traitement des Données SMOS (CATDS funded by CNES) by Arnaud Quesney (Capgemini) and Elsa Jacquette (CESBIO) from DPGS data (ascending orbits) using the L2SM retrieval algorithm and L3 CATDS aggregation.
The maps were produced with a 3 day running window and using a 3X3 median filter. It covers the period January 8 to June 30 2010 and is thus made with acquisitions covering all the stages / improvements encountered during the commissioning phase as the data has not been reprocessed yet. This can be inferred by just looking at the temporal evolution!One may not the RFI impact in some areas as well as the substantial decrease of RFI impact in Western Europe as the sources in Spain were eradicated.Also have a look at Australia. You might see the rain system sweeping across the continent by th ened of th eperiod. You may also see the melt progressing at high latitudes…., monsoon effects etc….
A word of warning though. this film is for wetting your appetite only. The data was obtained with varying configurations (full and dual pol for instance), with several versions of the calibration scheme, of the processors (both level 1 and Level 2), so we need to have the data reprocessed before we can analyse in depth such information.The thing to remember is that it can only improve and it is already quite impressive…..