Evaluation of SMOS, SMAP, AMSR2 and FY-3C soil moisture products over China

Abstract

Microwave remote sensing can provide long-term near-surface soil moisture data on regional and global scales. Conducting standardized authenticity tests is critical to the effective use of observed data products in models, data assimilation, and various terminal scenarios. Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) soil moisture data were used as a reference for comparative analysis, and triple collocation analysis was used to validate data from four mainstream passive microwave remote sensing soil moisture products: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP), Global Change Observation Mission–Water using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) instrument, and Fengyun-3C (FY-3C). The effects of topography, land cover, and meteorological factors on the accuracy of soil moisture observation data were determined. The results show that SMAP had the best overall performance and AMSR2 the worst. Passive microwave detection technology can accurately capture soil moisture data in areas at high altitude with uniform terrain, particularly if the underlying surface is soil, and in areas with low average temperatures and little precipitation, such as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. FY-3C performed in the middle of the group and was relatively optimal in northeast China but showed poor data integrity. Variation in accuracy between products, together with other factors identified in the study, provides a baseline reference for the improvement of the retrieval algorithm, and the research results provide a quantitative basis for developing better use of passive microwave soil moisture products.