SMOS first data analysis for sea surface salinity determination |
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| Authors: | Jordi Font Jacqueline Boutin Nicolas Reul Paul Spurgeon Joaquim Ballabrera-Poy Andrei Chuprin |
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| Affiliation: | 1. SMOS Barcelona Expert Centre (SMOS-BEC) , Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM) and Unitat de Tecnologia Marina (UTM), CSIC , 08003 , Barcelona , Spain jfont@icm.csic.es;3. Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), LOCEAN/LATMOS , 75252 , Paris , France;4. Institut Fran?ais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) , 29280 , Plouzané , France;5. ARGANS Ltd, Tamar Science Park , Plymouth , PL6 8BT , UK;6. SMOS Barcelona Expert Centre (SMOS-BEC) , Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM) and Unitat de Tecnologia Marina (UTM), CSIC , 08003 , Barcelona , Spain |
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| Abstract: | Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), launched on 2 November 2009, is the first satellite mission addressing sea surface salinity (SSS) measurement from space. Its unique payload is the Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS), a new two-dimensional interferometer designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operating at the L-band frequency. This article presents a summary of SSS retrieval from SMOS observations and shows initial results obtained one year after launch. These results are encouraging, but also indicate that further improvements at various data processing levels are needed and hence are currently under investigation. |
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