Evaluation of ERS scatterometer soil moisture products over a half‐degree region in southwestern France

Abstract

This paper investigates the ERS Scatterometer soil moisture products precision over a half‐degree region in Southwestern France. Based on a high resolution soil moisture simulation (1 km2) validated at the local scale, the ERS‐scat product is assessed at its own resolution (about 50 × 50 km2). The study points out the suitable quality of the surface soil moisture product (root mean square error equal to 0.06 m3.m−3 for a 4‐year period) and assesses the retrieved root‐zone soil moisture accuracy provided by a semi‐empirical methodology exclusively based on surface soil moisture products.