NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission and Opportunities for Applications Users

Abstract

Water in the soil—both its amount (soil moisture) and its state (freeze/thaw)—plays a key role in water and energy cycles, in weather and climate, and in the carbon cycle. Additionally, soil moisture touches upon human lives in a number of ways—from the ravages of flooding to the needs for monitoring agricultural and hydrologic droughts. Because of their relevance to weather, climate, science, and society, accurate and timely measurements of soil moisture and freeze/thaw state with global coverage are critically important.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administratio