Alberta Soil Moisture Analyses using CaLDAS

In order to improve soil moisture analyses, used to initialize numerical prediction systems, Environment Canada has developed the new Canadian Land Data Assimilation System (CaLDAS). CaLDAS uses the Global Environment Multi-scale (GEM) off-line land surface model and has been configured to assimilate Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) L-band soil moisture brightness temperatures using an Ensemble Kalman Filter framework and the Community Microwave Emission Modelling Platform as the radiative transfer forward model. One of the biggest challenges so far has been to correct the systematic dry bias of the off-line land surface model in order to provide an accurate first guess in which to assimilate SMOS brightness temperatures. Using a network of soil moisture stations in Alberta [Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development] we have improved and validated parameterizations using the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface scheme. Results will be presented for the off-line model both alone and with the assimilation of bias corrected SMOS brightness temperatures for the summers of 2010 and 2012.