Evaluation of the SMOS L-MEB passive microwave soil moisture retrieval algorithm

Soil moisture will be mapped globally by the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission to be launched in 2009. The expected soil moisture accuracy will be 4.0 %v/v. The core component of the SMOS soil moisture retrieval algorithm is the L-band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere (L-MEB) model which simulates the microwave emission at L-band from the soil-vegetation layer. The model parameters have been calibrated with data acquired by tower mounted radiometer studies in Europe and the United States, with a typical footprint size of approximately 10 m. In this study, aircraft L-band data acquired during the National Airborne Field Experiment (NAFE) intensive campaign held in South-eastern Australia in 2005 are used to perform the first evaluation of the L-MEB model and its proposed parameterization when applied to coarser footprints (62.5 m). The model could be evaluated across large areas including a wide range of land surface conditions, typical of the Australian environment. Soil moisture was retrieved from the aircraft brightness temperatures using L-MEB and ground measured ancillary data (soil temperature, soil texture, vegetation water content and surface roughness) and subsequently evaluated against ground measurements of soil moisture. The retrieval accuracy when using the L-MEB ‘default’ set of model parameters was found to be better than 4.0 %v/v only over grassland covered sites. Over crops the model was found to underestimate soil moisture by up to 32 %v/v. After site specific calibration of the vegetation and roughness parameters, the retrieval accuracy was found to be equal or better than 4.8 %v/v for crops and grasslands at 62.5-m resolution. It is suggested that the proposed value of roughness parameter H_R for crops is too low, and that variability of H_R with soil moisture must be taken into consideration to obtain accurate retrievals at these scales. The analysis presented here is a crucial step towards validating the application of L-MEB for soil moisture retrieval from satellite observations in an operational context.     

Evaluation of remotely sensed and modelled soil moisture products using global ground-based in situ observations

In situ soil moisture data from more than 200 stations located in Africa, Australia, Europe and the United States are used to determine the reliability of three soil moisture products, one analysis from the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) numerical weather prediction system (SM-DAS-2) and two remotely sensed soil moisture products, namely ASCAT (Advanced scatterometer) and SMOS (Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity). SM-DAS-2 is produced offline at ECMWF and relies on an advanced surface data assimilation system (Extended Kalman Filter) used to optimally combine conventional observations with satellite measurements. ASCAT remotely sensed surface soil moisture is provided in near real time by EUMETSAT. At ECMWF, ASCAT is used for soil moisture analyses in SM-DAS-2, also. Finally the SMOS remotely sensed soil moisture data level two product developed at CESBIO is used. Evaluation of the times series as well as of the anomaly values, shows good performances of the three products to capture surface soil moisture annual cycle and short term variability. Correlations with in situ data are very satisfactory over most of the investigated sites located in contrasted biomes and climate conditions with averaged values of 0.70 for SM-DAS-2, 0.53 for ASCAT and 0.54 for SMOS. Although radio frequency interference disturbs the natural microwave emission of the Earth observed by SMOS in several parts of the world, hence the soil moisture retrieval, performances of SMOS over Australia are very encouraging.     

Analysis of in-situ soil moisture data and validation of SMOS soil moisture products at selected agricultural sites over a tropical region

Calibration and validation activities on Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS)-derived soil moisture products have been conducted worldwide since the data became available, but this has not been the case over tropical regions. This study focuses on the setting up of a soil moisture data collection network over an agricultural site in a tropical region in Peninsular Malaysia and on the validation of SMOS soil moisture products. The in-situ data over a one-and-a-half-year period was analysed and the validation of the SMOS soil moisture products with this in-situ data was conducted. Bias and root mean square error (RMSE) were computed between the SMOS soil moisture products and the in-situ surface soil moisture collected at the satellite passing times (6 am and 6 pm local time). Due to the known limitations of SMOS soil moisture retrieval over vegetated areas with a vegetation water content higher than 5 kg m^?2, an overestimation of SMOS soil moisture products to in-situ data was noticed in this study. The bias ranged from 0.064 to 0.119 m³ m^?3 and the RMSE was from 0.090 to 0.158 m³ m^?3, when both ascending and descending mode data were measured. This RMSE was found to be similar to those of a number of studies conducted previously at different regions. However, a wet bias was found during the validation, while previous validation activities at other locations showed dry biases. The result of this study is useful to support the continuous development and improvement of the SMOS soil moisture retrieval model, aiming to produce soil moisture products with higher accuracy, especially in tropical regions.     

A proposed extension to the soil moisture and ocean salinity level 2 algorithm for mixed forest and moderate vegetation pixels

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, launched in November 2009, provides global maps of soil moisture and ocean salinity by measuring the L-band (1.4 GHz) emission of the Earth's surface with a spatial resolution of 40-50 km. Uncertainty in the retrieval of soil moisture over large heterogeneous areas such as SMOS pixels is expected, due to the non-linearity of the relationship between soil moisture and the microwave emission. The current baseline soil moisture retrieval algorithm adopted by SMOS and implemented in the SMOS Level 2 (SMOS L2) processor partially accounts for the sub-pixel heterogeneity of the land surface, by modelling the individual contributions of different pixel fractions to the overall pixel emission. This retrieval approach is tested in this study using airborne L-band data over an area the size of a SMOS pixel characterised by a mix Eucalypt forest and moderate vegetation types (grassland and crops), with the objective of assessing its ability to correct for the soil moisture retrieval error induced by the land surface heterogeneity. A preliminary analysis using a traditional uniform pixel retrieval approach shows that the sub-pixel heterogeneity of land cover type causes significant errors in soil moisture retrieval (7.7%v/v RMSE, 2%v/v bias) in pixels characterised by a significant amount of forest (40-60%). Although the retrieval approach adopted by SMOS partially reduces this error, it is affected by errors beyond the SMOS target accuracy, presenting in particular a strong dry bias when a fraction of the pixel is occupied by forest (4.1%v/v RMSE, −3.1%v/v bias). An extension to the SMOS approach is proposed that accounts for the heterogeneity of vegetation optical depth within the SMOS pixel. The proposed approach is shown to significantly reduce the error in retrieved soil moisture (2.8%v/v RMSE, −0.3%v/v bias) in pixels characterised by a critical amount of forest (40-60%), at the limited cost of only a crude estimate of the optical depth of the forested area (better than 35% uncertainty). This study makes use of an unprecedented data set of airborne L-band observations and ground supporting data from the National Airborne Field Experiment 2005 (NAFE'05), which allowed accurate characterisation of the land surface heterogeneity over an area equivalent in size to a SMOS pixel.     

Pixel-scalesoil Moisture Monitoring Network and Its Preliminary Validation of L-band Soil Moisture Products

Soil moisture is a key variable in the process of crop growth,ground-air water heat exchange and global water cycle,which plays an important role in drought monitoring,hydrological land surface processes and climate change.Passive microwave remote sensing has become the main means of monitoring soil moisture with the sensitivity to soil moisture.In this study,the authenticity test of SMAP（Soil Moisture and Active and Passive） and SMOS（Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity）passive microwave soil moisture products using the soil moisture sensor network monitoring data carried out against the underlying surface of farmlands in Jilin Province was carried out.The following conclusions were obtained：（1）Compared with the in situ measured data,SMOS L3(ascending and descending overpasses) and SMAP L3 passive microwave soil moisture products generally underestimated the ground data,but With the occurrence of rainfall events,there will be the phenomenon which is the value of soil moisture products is higher than the in situ data; although the unbiased root mean square error (unRMSE) of the two soil moisture products was greater than 0.07 m3/m3,the unRMSE of SMAP passive microwave soil moisture product data which was 0.078 m3/m3 was slightly lower;（2）Since the depth of induction of the L-band is lighter than the depth of detection of the sensor(5cm),and the dryness of the soil surface after rainfall causes the vertical inhomogeneity of soil moisture,which is one of the reasons why SMOS and SMAP passive microwave soil moisture products underestimate soil moisture; （3）SMOS has a higher value than the range of SMAP brightness temperature,which may be caused by radio frequency interference (RFI),which makes the error of soil moisture Retrieval and affects the validation accuracy.The comparison of bright temperature distribution of SMOS and SMAP shows that the effect of RFI on SMOS is more serious due to the influence of electromagnetic radio frequency interference (RFI),which may be the reason why the RMSE of soil moisture product of SMOS is higher than that of passive microwave soil moisture product of SMAP.     

Quantification of spatial distribution of vegetation in the Qilian Mountain area with MODIS NDVI

The spatial distribution of vegetation in the Qilian Mountain area was quantified with remote sensing data. The MODIS NDVI values for June, July, August and September are the best indicators for the vegetation growth during a year in this area and thus were used in this study. The results obtained by analysing NDVI data for seven years from 2000 to 2006 clearly indicated that elevation and aspect, as a proxy for precipitation and temperature, are two very important factors for the vertical distribution of vegetation in Qilian Mountain area. In the Qilian Mountain area the vegetation growth is optimal between the elevations of 3200 m and 3600 m, with NDVI values larger than 0.50 and a peak value of?>0.56 around 3400 m. It is the combination of plentiful precipitation and suitable land surface temperature that provides less soil moisture stress and thus suitable conditions for vegetation growth in this range of elevations. The optimal vegetation growth is found in the shady slope between NW340° to NE70° with the largest NDVI value (>0.56) within the elevation range of 3200 m and 3600 m. The methodology developed in this study should be useful for similar ecological studies on vegetation distribution.     

青藏高原L波段微波辐射观测与土壤水分反演研究进展

土壤水分是地气间水热交换的重要变量,影响着地表感热潜热划分、水分收支和植被蒸腾等过程,青藏高原土壤水分的研究对于改进高原水分循环和能量平衡的模拟研究具有重要意义.随着SMOS、SMAP等卫星的发射,L波段被动微波遥感技术成为大尺度监测土壤水分的主要手段.分别从L波段星—机—地观测与微波辐射模拟、区域尺度土壤水分观测、卫...     

反演策略对SMOS土壤水分反演算法的影响研究

为降低SMOS土壤水分反演算法的复杂度、提高土壤水分反演精度,对SMOS土壤水分反演策略进行调整：将多参数反演改为单参数反演以简化观测与模拟亮温的代价函数,以固定步长（0.001 m3/m3）代替不定步长从而避免复杂的矩阵运算,将围绕土壤水分先验值的少量局部搜索调整为全土壤水分区间（0~0.05 m³/m³）的密集全局搜索。利用美国USCRN 44个站点实测土壤水分分别与SMOS官方反演的土壤水分和SMOS调整算法反演的土壤水分进行对比分析。结果表明：与SMOS相比,算法调整后土壤水分的平均绝对偏差MAD、均方根误差RMSE和无偏均方根误差ubRMSE分别降低了0.012、0.018和0.020 m3/m3。     

国地球资源遥感卫星的工作状况和研制动态

In order to reduce the complexity of SMOS official soil moisture retrieval algorithm and improve the accuracy of soil moisture retrievals, a new retrieval strategy on SMOS soil moisture retrieval algorithm was developed. In the new retrieval strategy on SMOS soil moisture retrieval algorithm, the fixed step size (0.001 m3/m3) was used to replace the flexible step size obtained by the SMOS matrix operation. The multi-parameter was changed to a single-parameter in the cost function. The data from 44 USCRN sites in the United States were compared with the soil moisture retrieved from SMOS official algorithm as well as the adjustment of SMOS algorithm. The results show that compared with the SMOS official algorithm, the average absolute deviation, root mean square error,and unbiased root mean square error of the adjustment of SMOS algorithm are reduced by 0.012 m3/m3, 0.018 m3/m3,and 0.020 m3/m3,respectively.     

荷兰农业水土资源利用研究与遥感技术的应用-赴荷兰访问考察团

根据中荷两国学者互访协议,中国科学院沙漠所派我们两人在1985年10月10日至11月6日对荷兰进行了为期四周的考察访问。在荷期间,我们受到荷方学者热情友好的接待,首后访问了国际农业中心(IAC—     

SMOS与SMAP过境时段表层土壤水分的稳定性研究

SMOS和SMAP都是为获取全球土壤水分信息而设计的专题卫星,均搭载了L波段辐射计。进行二者的横向对比是构建具有一致性的全球土壤水分数据集的关键基础。虽然SMAP、SMOS名义上的过境时刻是固定的,但二者的实际过境时刻随时间和空间发生变化,它们与地面实测数据三者之间难以匹配形成时序上严格统一的样本对,从而给土壤水分反演结果的精度评定带来困难。针对这一问题,以美国大陆地区为研究区,首先对2016~2017年SMOS、SMAP土壤水分数据的时间戳进行统计,判定二者过境的交叠时段;进而利用高观测频率、大空间尺度的实测数据,研究表层土壤水分在此时段内的自然变化特征。结果显示,按照全部、无降水、有降水3种条件,在样本量分别为98.14%、99.51%和88.49%的绝大多数情况下,表层土壤水分的变化量为0.007 m3/m3、0.007 m3/m3和0.012 m3/m3, 远小于SMOS、SMAP的目标精度（0.04 m3/m3）。初步证实： ①SMOS与SMAP的土壤水分反演结果（L2数据）可进行直接比对;②过境时刻差异对验证误差的影响可不计。     

Estimates of surface soil moisture under grass covers using L-band radiometry

The scope of this study is to establish the parameters of the L-band (1.4 GHz) Microwave Emission of the Biosphere model (L-MEB) for grass covers, and to assess surface soil moisture retrievals in areas covered by grass. L-MEB parameters are key ancillary information for the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission (SMOS) retrieval algorithm that produces estimates of the surface soil moisture from measurements of the surface brightness temperature at L-band.L-band data sets from three ground-based experiments over grass are analysed in this paper: BARC (orchard grass and alfalfa), ELBARA-ETH (clover grass), and SMOSREX (grass and litter from a field left fallow). Modelling of the brightness temperature using the zero-th order radiative transfer model in L-MEB indicates that the vegetation appears isotropic to microwaves propagating with horizontal polarisation, and that the single scattering albedo can be neglected. At vertical polarisation, non-zero scattering is observed for all the grass data sets. Surface soil moisture is retrieved with enough accuracy for all data sets as long as the soil and litter emission are calibrated beforehand. Then surface soil moisture and vegetation optical depth can be left as free parameters in the retrieval process. Finally, the study highlights the importance of detecting strong emission and attenuation by wet vegetation and litter due to rainfall interception in order to obtain accurate estimates of the surface soil moisture. The study illustrates how strong rainfall interception can be flagged straightforwardly using a microwave polarisation index.     

An appraisal of the accuracy of operational soil moisture estimates from SMOS MIRAS using validated in situ observations acquired in a Mediterranean environment

Acquiring information on the spatio-temporal variability of soil moisture is of key importance in extending our capability to understand the Earth system’s physical processes, and is also required in many practical applications. Earth observation (EO) provides a promising avenue to observe the distribution of soil moisture at different observational scales, with a number of products distributed at present operationally. Validation of such products at a range of climate and environmental conditions across continents is a fundamental step related to their practical use. Various in situ soil moisture ground observational networks have been established globally providing suitable data for evaluating the accuracy of EO-based soil moisture products. This study aimed at evaluating the accuracy of soil moisture estimates provided from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS) global operational product at test sites from the REMEDHUS International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) in Spain. For this purpose, validated observations from in situ ground observations acquired nearly concurrent to SMOS overpass were utilized. Overall, results showed a generally reasonable agreement between the SMOS product and the in situ soil moisture measurements in the 0–5 cm soil moisture layer (root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.116 m³ m^?3). An improvement in product accuracy for the overall comparison was shown when days of high radio frequency interference were filtered out (RMSE = 0.110 m³ m^?3). Seasonal analysis showed highest agreement during autumn, followed by summer, winter, and spring seasons. A systematic soil moisture underestimation was also found for the overall comparison and during the four seasons. Overall, the result provides supportive evidence of the potential value of this operational product for meso-scale studies and practical applications.     

SMAP土壤水分产品在淮河流域的适用性评估

选取淮河流域为研究区域,利用2016年6月至2019年5月流域内的313个土壤水分观测站0～10 cm土壤体积含水量数据,使用多种指标分析SMAP卫星(Soil Moisture Active Passive)9 km分辨率土壤水分产品(L2_SM_P_E)精度的空间和时间(年、月、日尺度)特征,并讨论植被、土壤、地形...     

基于Triple-Collocation方法的微波遥感土壤水分产品不确定性分析及数据融合

微波遥感可以获取大范围的地表土壤水分信息，以及由此得到全球尺度的土壤水分产品。但由于传感器观测配置和反演方法等诸多因素的影响，使得不同的土壤水分产品在精度和可靠性方面存在差异。基于Triple-Collocation（TC）方法，在青藏高原那曲地区的0.25°×0.25°和1.0°×1.0°两个空间尺度上对AMSR2、SMAP和SMOS 3种土壤水分遥感产品进行不确定性分析，开展基于随机误差的数据融合算法研究。研究结果表明:不同遥感产品间的随机误差在空间分布上存在显著的不一致性，使得应用传统的算术平均方法进行数据融合不具有普适性。基于此不确定性，对3种产品配赋相应的权重进行融合，相比于3种土壤水分原始数据集，融合产品不仅具有更丰富的数据量，也会对数据精度有所改善。当遥感产品间的随机误差接近时，等权重和优化权重的融合结果非常接近；当遥感产品间的随机误差差异较大时，基于不确定性的数据融合方法相比等权重方法可以明显的提高融合数据的精度。     

基于Sentinel-1和MODIS数据反演农田地表土壤水分—以REMEDHUS地区为例

土壤水分是陆地生态系统和水循环的重要状态变量,在植被生长监测、农作物产量评估等研究中均发挥着重要作用。为了消除植被散射的影响,进而实现农田地表土壤水分的高精度反演,以时间序列Sentinel-1影像及MODIS产品为实验数据,基于高级积分方程模型和比值植被模型的耦合模型,通过采用不同光学植被参数和VH交叉极化后向散射系数,分别对农田植被散射贡献进行表征,消除植被散射的影响,进而实现土壤水分的高精度反演。结果表明：当利用VH极化进行参数化植被散射贡献时,标定的耦合模型,虽然可消除对光学植被参数的依赖并较好地模拟Sentinel-1卫星观测,但土壤水分反演结果效果欠理想,相关系数R最大仅为0.54;与VH极化相比,利用光学植被参数表征植被散射贡献时,土壤水分整体反演效果较理想,R最大达到0.79,但光学植被参数反演结果在不同站点存在显著的空间差异性,R介于0.07~0.79之间。因此,在未来研究中可尝试将雷达数据与光学数据协同反演,以期在消除植被散射影响的基础上,实现植被覆盖区域土壤水分的高精度反演及动态变化监测。     

基于Triple-Collocation方法的微波遥感土壤水分产品不确定性分析及数据融合

微波遥感可以获取大范围的地表土壤水分信息,以及由此得到全球尺度的土壤水分产品。但由于传感器观测配置和反演方法等诸多因素的影响,使得不同的土壤水分产品在精度和可靠性方面存在差异。基于Triple-Collocation（TC）方法,在青藏高原那曲地区的0.25°×0.25°和1.0°×1.0°两个空间尺度上对AMSR2、SMAP和SMOS 3种土壤水分遥感产品进行不确定性分析,开展基于随机误差的数据融合算法研究。研究结果表明:不同遥感产品间的随机误差在空间分布上存在显著的不一致性,使得应用传统的算术平均方法进行数据融合不具有普适性。基于此不确定性,对3种产品配赋相应的权重进行融合,相比于3种土壤水分原始数据集,融合产品不仅具有更丰富的数据量,也会对数据精度有所改善。当遥感产品间的随机误差接近时,等权重和优化权重的融合结果非常接近;当遥感产品间的随机误差差异较大时,基于不确定性的数据融合方法相比等权重方法可以明显的提高融合数据的精度。     

基于Triple Collocation方法的微波土壤水分产品不确定性分析与时空变化规律研究

土壤水分是连接地—气系统的重要状态变量,微波遥感为准确获取大面积土壤水分信息提供新的技术手段。准确解读微波土壤水分产品质量、深入了解其误差的时空分布特征是通过数据同化等方法将其融入陆面模型,从而成功应用于地球科学领域的重要先决条件。基于Triple Collocation(TC)方法检验了风云三号C星(FY-3C)、土壤水分主被动卫星(SMAP)及高级微波散射计(ASCAT)这3种常用微波土壤水分产品在中国陆域的质量,并通过Hovm?ller图评估了3套产品捕捉土壤水分时空变化的能力。结果显示:①TC方法得到的分析结论与地面实测资料的验证结果一致,整体上SMAP优于ASCAT和FY-3C,不同土地利用类型下SMAP信噪比均最高,三者的TC信噪比分别为1.668 dB、-0.316 dB和-2.182 dB,同时三者与实测值的相关系数分别为0.514、0.501和0.209;②FY-3C和ASCAT产品的精度在中国西北地区整体优于南部地区,3种产品均能较好地刻画土壤水分随纬度和经度变化的情况,3种产品展现的季节波动整体高于实测,其中FY-3C的季节波动在3种产品中最为剧烈;③FY-3C的质量比ASCAT和SMAP更易受到植被影响,但在裸土区FY-3C优于ASCAT。本研究基于TC分析提供了全国范围内3种主流微波土壤水分产品的误差和信噪比的空间分布,并通过Hovm?ller图评估了其描述土壤水分时空变化的能力。研究结论可为微波土壤水分产品的同化研究提供一定参考。     

亚洲区域AMSR2与SMOS土壤水分产品对比研究

遥感反演土壤水分(SM)产品越来越多地应用于农业、气象、水文等研究,而微波土壤水分数据产品的区域适用性分析是其合理使用的必要前提。使用MERRA-2(Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications,Version 2)模拟土壤水分为参考数据,运用传统统计方法(原始数据相关性、距平相关性、偏差以及无偏均方根差)和TC(Triple-Collocation)不确定性误差模型分析的方法,对亚洲区域2012年7月～2016年7月两种被动微波土壤水分SMOS-L3-SM(Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity,L3)和AMSR2-LPRM-SM(The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2,Land Parameter Retrieval Model Product)进行对比评估。结果表明:①空间上SMOS-L3较AMSR2-LPRM数据与参考数据MERRA-2土壤水分的相关性较好,表现为SMOS-L3-SM具有较好的空间连续性,且在亚洲大多数地区有较小的无偏均方根差;②湿季条件下遥感土壤水分与参考值的相关性比干季条件下的相关性更好,且干季出现高纬地区(约55°)缺失值较多的情况;③两遥感土壤水分的TC误差呈现相似的分布,区域TC平均误差两者均为0.076 m~3/m~3。总之,SMOS-L3-SM和AMSR2-LPRM-SM在空间相关性及TC误差评价方面都具有合理性,为遥感土壤水分在农业、气象、水文等方面的应用提供参考。