Error characterization of microwave satellite soil moisture data sets using Fourier analysis

Abstract

Soil moisture is a key geophysical variable in hydrological and meteorological processes. Accurate and current observations of soil moisture over meso to global scales used as inputs to hydrological, weather and climate modelling will benefit the predictability and understanding of these processes. At present, satellite platforms are active in mapping global surface soil moisture jointly at sub-daily intervals and mesoscale resolutions. However to correctly interpret observed variations and assimilate them in hydrological and weather models, the error structures of the retrieved soil moisture data need to be better understood and characterised. In this paper we investigate the utility of a r..