An architecture trade study for passive 10-km soil moisture measurements from low-Earth orbit

Abstract

In 1999 NASA HQ, as a result of an internal NASA study on potential Earth Science Enterprise Post-2002 Missions, directed the hydrology community to focus on achieving a 10km spatial resolution global soil moisture mission. This type of resolution represents a significant technological challenge for an L-band radiometer in sun-synchronous low-earth orbit. An engineering trade study has been completed to determine alternative system configurations that could achieve the science requirements and to identify the most appropriate technology investments and development path for NASA to pursue in order to bring about such a mission. The results of the study are presented here together with a short discussion of future efforts.