Soil Moisture Active Passive
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Artist rendition of SMAP
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| Mission type | Environmental |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2015-003A |
| SATCAT № | 40376 |
| Website | smap |
| Mission duration | 3 years |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 31 January 2015, 14:22 UTC |
| Rocket | Delta II 7320-10C |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Perigee | 688.4 km (427.8 mi) |
| Apogee | 690.7 km (429.2 mi) |
| Inclination | 98.12 degrees |
| Period | 98.4 minutes |
| Epoch | 9 May 2015, 02:10:00 UTC |
Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) is an American environmental research satellite launched on 31 January 2015. It was one of the first Earth observation satellites developed by NASA in response to the National Research Council’s Decadal Survey.
SMAP will provide measurements of the land surface soil moisture and freeze-thaw state with near-global revisit coverage in 2–3 days. SMAP surface measurements will be coupled with hydrologic models to infer soil moisture conditions in the root zone. These measurements will enable science applications users to:
SMAP observations will be acquired for a period of at least three years after launch. A comprehensive validation, science, and applications program will be implemented, and all data will be made available publicly through the NASA archive centers.
The SMAP observatory includes a dedicated spacecraft and instrument suite in a near-polar, Sun-synchronous orbit. The SMAP measurement system consists of a radiometer (passive) instrument and a synthetic aperture radar (active) instrument operating with multiple polarizations in the L-band range. The combined active and passive measurement approach takes advantage of the spatial resolution of the radar and the sensing accuracy of the radiometer.
The active and passive sensors provide coincident measurements of the surface emission and backscatter. The instruments sense conditions in the top 5 cm of soil through moderate vegetation cover to yield globally mapped estimates of soil moisture and its freeze-thaw state.
The satellite carries two scientific instruments: a radar and a radiometer, that share a single feed and deployable 6m reflector antenna system that rotates around the nadir axis making conical scans of the surface. The wide swath provides near-global revisit every 2–3 days.
SMAP is a directed mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA. The SMAP project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL, with participation by the Goddard Space Flight Center GSFC. SMAP builds on the heritage and risk reduction activities of NASA's cancelled ESSP Hydros Mission.
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