SMAP’s first year of observational data has now been analyzed and is providing some significant surprises that will help in the modeling of climate, forecasting of weather, and monitoring of agriculture around the world.
These new results are reported in the journal Nature Geosciences, in a paper by SMAP Science Team leader Dara Entekhabi, recent MIT graduate Kaighin McColl PhD ’16, and four others.
The SMAP observations are providing an unprecedented level of detailed, worldwide information on the amount of water in those top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil, collected globally every two to three days.
The oceans, containing 97 percent of Earth’s water, provide a major role in storing and releasing heat, but over land that role is provided by the moisture in the topmost layer of the soil, albeit through different mechanisms.
The difference between the two weights gives a precise measure of the soil’s moisture content in that volume, which can be compared with the satellite’s moisture measurement.
"Study tracks ‘memory’ of soil moisture: First year of data from SMAP satellite provides new insights for weather, agriculture, and climate."
ScienceDaily, 16 January 2017.
Study tracks ‘memory’ of soil moisture: First year of data from SMAP satellite provides new insights for weather, agriculture, and climate.
Retrieved June 9, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170116121807.htm Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Study tracks ‘memory’ of soil moisture: First year of data from SMAP satellite provides new insights for weather, agriculture, and climate."