Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (MOSS): A Mission Concept for Global Deep Soil Moisture Observations

Abstract

The Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (MOSS) is a mission concept for a spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system that provides global observations of soil moisture under substantial vegetation cover (exceeding 20 kg/m2 ) and at useful depths (1-5 m). The concept was developed and a number of new required technologies were demonstrated through a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth Science Technology Office Instrument Incubator Program project. This very high frequency (VHF)/ultrahigh frequency (UHF) polarimetric SAR is designed to provide 7-10-day observations of soil moisture at 1-km resolution. The rapid repeat cycle mandates swath widths in the range of 300-400 km, which must be realized by a 30-m-long antenna. Conventional array implementations would result in a mass of more than 4000 kg, whereas with the technology proposed and demonstrated in this project, the total antenna mass is less than 500 kg. The antenna concept is a dual-stacked patch array feed illuminating a 30-m mesh reflector to synthesize the long apertures and achieve the wide swath. The feed system prototype was fabricated and its performance demonstrated. Other major project components were: (1) system-level SAR and mission design; (2) demonstration of science data and products, using a tower-based VHF/UHF radar; (3) spacecraft and mesh reflector antenna mechanical design; (4) developing mitigation strategies for ionospheric effects; and (5) assessing frequency interference effects. Experimental science data were generated from the tower radar for soil moisture profiling in Arizona and for forest penetration in Oregon. The soil moisture products were demonstrated through an integrated inversion-processing algorithm. This paper summarizes the results from the MOSS project and demonstrates the feasibility of the spaceborne mission.