With the recently launched Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, it is very important to have a complete understanding of the radiative transfer model for better soil moisture retrievals and to direct future research and field campaigns in areas of necessity. Because natural systems show great variability and complexity with respect to soil, land cover, topography, precipitation, there exist large uncertainties and heterogeneities in model input factors. In this paper, we explore the possibility of using global sensitivity analysis (GSA) technique to study the influence of heterogeneity and uncertainties in model inputs on zero order radiative transfer (ZRT) model and to quantify interactions between parameters. GSA technique is based on decomposition of variance and can handle nonlinear and nonmonotonic functions. We direct our analyses toward growing agricultural fields of corn and soybean in two different regions, Iowa, USA (SMEX02) and Winnipeg, Canada (SMAPVEX12). We noticed that, there exists a spatio-temporal variation in parameter interactions under different soil moisture and vegetation conditions. Radiative Transfer Model (RTM) behaves more non-linearly in SMEX02 and linearly in SMAPVEX12, with average parameter interactions of 14% in SMEX02 and 5% in SMAPVEX12. Also, parameter interactions increased with vegetation water content (VWC) and roughness conditions. Interestingly, soil moisture shows an exponentially decreasing sensitivity function whereas parameters such as root mean square height (RMS height) and vegetation water content show increasing sensitivity with 0.05 v/v increase in soil moisture range. Overall, considering the SMAPVEX12 fields to be water rich environment (due to higher observed SM) and SMEX02 fields to be energy rich environment (due to lower SM and wide ranges of TSURF), our results indicate that first order as well as interactions between the parameters change with water and energy rich environments.
The precipitation flag in the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Level 2 passive soil moisture (L2SMP) retrieval product indicates the presence or absence of heavy precipitation at the time of the SMAP overpass. The flag is based on precipitation estimates from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Forward Processing numerical weather prediction system. An error in flagging during an active or recent precipitation event can either (1) produce an overestimation of soil moisture due to short-term surface wetting of vegetation and/or surface ponding (if soil moisture retrieval was attempted in the presence of rain), or (2) produce an unnecessary non-retrieval of soil moisture and loss of data (if retrieval is flagged due to an erroneous indication of rain). Satellite precipitation estimates from the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) Version 06 Early Run (latency of ~4 hrs) precipitationCal product are used here to evaluate the GEOS-based precipitation flag in the L2SMP product for both the 6 PM ascending and 6 AM descending SMAP overpasses over the first five years of the mission (2015-2020). Consisting of blended precipitation measurements from the GPM (Global Precipitation Mission) satellite constellation, IMERG is treated as the “truth” when comparing to the GEOS model forecasts of precipitation used by SMAP. Key results include: i) IMERG measurements generally show higher spatial variability than the GEOS forecast precipitation, ii) the IMERG product has a higher frequency of light precipitation amounts, and iii) the effect of incorporating IMERG rainfall measurements in lieu of GEOS precipitation forecasts are minimal on the L2SMP retrieval accuracy (determined vs. in situ soil moisture measurements at core validation sites). Our results indicate that L2SMP retrievals continue to meet the mission’s accuracy requirement (standard deviation of the ubRMSE less than 0.04 m3/m3).
A framework is proposed for understanding the efficacy of the microwave radiative transfer model (RTM) of soil moisture with different support scales, seasonality (time), hydroclimates, and aggregation (scaling) methods. In this paper, the sensitivity of brightness temperature TB (H- and V-polarization) to physical variables (soil moisture, soil texture, surface roughness, surface temperature, and vegetation characteristics) is studied. Our results indicate that the sensitivity of brightness temperature (V- or H-polarization) is determined by the upscaling method and heterogeneity observed in the physical variables. Under higher heterogeneity, the TB sensitivity to vegetation and roughness followed a logarithmic function with an increasing support scale, while an exponential function is followed under lower heterogeneity. Surface temperature always followed an exponential function under all conditions. The sensitivity of TB at H- or V- polarization to soil and vegetation characteristics varied with the spatial scale (extent and support) and the amount of biomass observed. Thus, choosing an H- or V-polarization algorithm for soil moisture retrieval is a tradeoff between support scales, and land surface heterogeneity. For largely undisturbed natural environments such as SGP’97 and SMEX04, the sensitivity of TB to variables remains nearly uniform and is not influenced by extent, support scales, or an upscaling method. On the contrary, for anthropogenically-manipulated environments such as SMEX02 and SMAPVEX12, the sensitivity to variables is highly influenced by the distribution of land surface heterogeneity and upscaling methods.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.