Early results of the SMAP In Situ Sensor Testbed

In 2010, an ambitious soil moisture sensor intercomparison study was begun in Marena, Oklahoma. This effort is designed to serve as a foundation for incorporating diverse soil moisture networks into the Soil Moisture Active Passive Calibration and Validation program Using technology which is currently used throughout the world, stations were deployed throughout a rangeland pasture to monitor a long soil moisture time series and develop a qualitative assessment of how these sensors can be merged into a single global soil moisture database for satellite remote sensing calibration and validation. Also included in the testbed are new technologies such as the Cosmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (COSMOS), GPS reflectometers, and Passive Distributed Temperature Sensing systems. Regular sampling of gravimetric soil moisture and vegetation water content are conducted to determine an absolute ground truth for the electronic time series. Initial results include an assessment of the ease of deployment and installation, as well as the sensitive to significant precipitation amounts.