Preparing the ESA-SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission - Overview of the user data products and data distribution strategy

Abstract

The ESA Earth Explorer SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission will carry the first polar-orbiting 2-D interferometric radiometer (MIRAS- Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis) acquiring data of emitted microwave radiation at the frequency of 1.4 GHz (L-band). The SMOS mission products will provide different data types, each with its own characteristics. SMOS products are classified according to the different levels of processing and each product will contain specific data. The aim of this paper is to highlight the innovative satellite instrument and to present to the scientific user community the content of each product type.