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Harvard Forest Research Project 2022

  • Title: Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiment 2019-22 (SMAPVEX19/20)
  • Principal investigator: Michael Cosh (Michael.Cosh@ars.usda.gov)
  • Institution: USDA - United States Department of Agriculture
  • Primary contact: Michael Cosh (Michael.Cosh@ars.usda.gov)
  • Team members: Simon Kraatz
    Paul Siqueira
  • Abstract:

    As a part of the calibration and validation of the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, soil moisture algorithm development requires a high quality soil moisture dataset within forested canopies to improve the estimation for this landscape. Harvard Forest and the surrounding region of central Massachusetts provides an ideal location for large scale monitoring of forested land and has an ideal partnership with Harvard Forest, UMass-Amherst, and the National Ecological Observation Network. Approximately 5 soil moisture soil temperature stations will be deployed at the Harvard Forest to provide a comparison point to aircraft and satellite measurements of soil moisture. During a coordinated field campaign, with aerial flights, there will be some coordinated field collection of data near stations.