Premium
Irrigation Signals Detected From SMAP Soil Moisture Retrievals
Author(s) -
Lawston Patricia M.,
Santanello Joseph A.,
Kumar Sujay V.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl075733
Subject(s) - irrigation , environmental science , satellite , water content , remote sensing , atmosphere (unit) , meteorology , agronomy , geology , geography , aerospace engineering , engineering , geotechnical engineering , biology
Irrigation can influence weather and climate, but the magnitude, timing, and spatial extent of irrigation are poorly represented in models, as are the resulting impacts of irrigation on the coupled land‐atmosphere system. One way to improve irrigation representation in models is to assimilate soil moisture observations that reflect an irrigation signal to improve model states. Satellite remote sensing is a promising avenue for obtaining these needed observations on a routine basis, but to date, irrigation detection in passive microwave satellites has proven difficult. In this study, results show that the new enhanced soil moisture product from the Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite is able to capture irrigation signals over three semiarid regions in the western United States. This marks an advancement in Earth‐observing satellite skill and the ability to monitor human impacts on the water cycle.