Impact of surface roughness on L-band emissivity of the ocean -Theoretical and empirical analysis-

Abstract

We present recent results from several studies and field experiments that were conducted to improve the retrieval of sea surface salinity from space, preparing for the soil moisture and ocean salinity (SMOS) mission. The sea surface roughness impact on L-band emissivity is analysed based on the data from the CoSMOS airborne campaign conducted in April 2006 in the Norway sea. Comparisons with electromagnetic scattering models used in SMOS algorithm indicate likely overestimation in the sea surface spectrum model energies at decimetric surface wave scales.