SMEX02 Passive and Active L and S band System (PALS) Data

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Entry ID

NSIDC-0183

Summary

This data set contains calibrated sensor measurements acquired by the Passive and Active L- and S-band (PALS) airborne microwave sensor during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02). This data set includes radiometer brightness temperatures (TB) at 1.41 and 2.69 GHz, and radar backscatter coefficients at 1.26 and 3.15 GHz, with multiple polarizations and a 45° incidence angle. The data are geolocated with latitude and longitude information for each data sample. Included are coregistered nadir and boresight infrared temperatures, altitude, and attitude information. Radar and radiometric studies are relevant to SMEX02 because the data indicates wet soil versus dry soil based on differences in emissivity in the microwave spectral region.

Data are provided as ASCII files for each flight line and day of the mission. Ten flight lines were flown each day. Flights took place on June 25, 27, and July 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 2002. Data are available via FTP.


These data were collected as part of a validation study for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). AMSR-E is a mission instrument launched aboard NASA's Aqua Satellite on 04 May 2002. AMSR-E validation studies linked to SMEX are designed to evaluate the accuracy of AMSR-E soil moisture data. Specific validation objectives include assessing and refining soil moisture algorithm performance; verifying soil moisture estimation accuracy; investigating the effects of vegetation, surface temperature, topography, and soil texture on soil moisture accuracy; and determining the regions that are useful for AMSR-E soil moisture measurements.

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: Eni Njoku
Dataset Title: SMEX02 Passive and Active L and S band System (PALS) Data
Dataset Release Date: 2003-09-30
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org./data/nsidc-0183.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2002-06-25
Stop Date: 2002-07-08

Location Keywords

• Continent North America United States Of America

Science Keywords

• Spectral/Engineering Microwave Brightness Temperature
• Spectral/Engineering Radar Radar Backscatter

Ancillary Keywords

• Airborne Radar Sounding
• Brightness Temperature
• L- band radar
• NSIDC
• NSIDC > National Snow and Ice Data Center
• Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures
• Radar
• SMEX

Platform

• AIRCRAFT

Instrument

• INFRARED RADIOMETERS
• RADAR Radio Detection and Ranging
• RADIOMETERS

Project

• ISMEX Iowa Soil Moisture Experiment
• SMEX02 Soil Moisture Experiments in 2002

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

NSIDC

Data Center

National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Set ID: NSIDC-0183

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

NSIDC Distributed Active Archive Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/daac/index.html
Data Set ID: NSIDC-0183

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC DAAC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Format: ASCII text files

Personnel

ENI G. NJOKU
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: 818-354-3693
Email: njoku@lor.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact Address:
M/S 300-233
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
City: Pasadena
Province or State: CA
Postal Code: 91109-8099
Country: USA

William J. Wilson
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
M/S 300-233
JPL
City: Pasadena
Province or State: CA
Postal Code: 91109
Country: USA

Simon H Yueh
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
M/S 300-233
JPL
City: Pasadena
Province or State: CA
Postal Code: 91109
Country: USA

Steven J Dinardo
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
M/S 300-233
JPL
City: Pasadena
Province or State: CA
Postal Code: 91109
Country: USA

NSIDC USER SERVICES
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Reference

Wilson, W.J., S.H. Yueh, S.J. Dinardo, S. Chazanoff, F.K. Li, and Y. Rahmat-Samii (2001): Passive Active L- and S-band (PALS) microwave sensor for ocean salinity and soil moisture measurements, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens. 39, 1039-1048.

Metadata Name and Version

Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2003-09-19

DIF Text-Only

Directory Interchange Format (DIF) in plain text

DIF XML

Directory Interchange Format (DIF) in Extensible Markup Language (XML)

FGDC HTML

U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM)