2014 AMS Annual Meeting

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Applications Program is geared towards identifying and fostering research that will provide fundamental knowledge of how SMAP mission data products can be scaled and integrated into users’ policy, business and management activities to improve decision-making efforts.  We define applications as innovative uses of mission data products in decision-making activities for societal benefit.

As SMAP draws closer to its launch date of October 31, 2014, the mission is increasing its focus on communicating with users of SMAP data.  Through our work with the SMAP community and early adopters we have learned that there are challenges the mission can address prior to launch that will increase the number and impact of scientific applications of SMAP data.  Because the use of SMAP data is different for each user, it is important to understand the individual resolution, access and accuracy concerns about SMAP data by thematic discipline.

As a result of the 2012 SMAP Prelaunch Professional Review, we are proposing this Town Hall meeting to provide information about existing soil moisture data from Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, soil moisture data from AMSR-E and discuss how they relate to plans for future soil moisture data from SMAP.  SMAP will benefit from the SMOS historical data record and provide continuity for soil moisture retrievals. This Town Hall will serve as a platform to elicit the information needed to develop technical workshops that will enhance the use of SMAP soil moisture data after launch.

The SMAP applications program can help ensure that flood planning, drought monitoring products, and agriculture production assessments that plan to use SMAP data will save time and effort in incorporating the data after launch.  We will communicate the details of the mission and address the questions of the interested communities who attend.

For additional information, please contact Vanessa Escobar (e-mail: [email protected].)