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Full catalog/AirMOSS_L1_Sigma0_Metoli_1412
AirMOSS_L1_Sigma0_Metoli_1412·v1·dataset

Airborne radar of soil and roots in Oregon (AirMOSS)

AirMOSS: L1 S-0 Polarimetric Data from AirMOSS P-band SAR, Metolius, 2012-2015
land NASA ORNL_CLOUD Level 1A multiple
In plain English

What it measures. Radar echoes bouncing off the ground and tree roots at a forest site near Metolius, Oregon, recorded as how strongly the surface reflects the radar signal. This particular radar can sense moisture down in the root zone of plants.

How it's made. An aircraft-mounted P-band radar (AirMOSS), flown on a NASA jet at least twice a year from 2012 to 2015, produced these calibrated, map-located radar measurements straight from the instrument.

How & where you'd use it. It is mainly a building-block input that scientists process further to estimate how wet the soil is around plant roots, and to study how soil moisture connects to the carbon plants take up over a season.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › SIGMA NAUGHT

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-09-18 → 2015-09-29
  • Measured byUAV (UAVSAR)
  • Processing levelLevel 1A
  • Spatial extent-122.861, 43.9931, -120.892, 44.6942
  • Formatsmultiple
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

This data set provides level 1 (L1) polarimetric radar backscattering coefficient (sigma-0), multilook complex, polarimetrically calibrated, and georeferenced data products from the Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) radar instrument collected over the Metolius site in Oregon. The AirMOSS radar is a P-band (UHF) fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) currently operating in the 420-440 MHz band designed to measure root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) and is flown on a NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft. Flight campaigns took place at least biannually from 2012 to 2015 at 10 study sites across North America. The acquired L1 P-band radar backscatter data will be used to retrieve the RZSM at the study sites. Subsequent analyses will investigate both seasonal and inter-annual variability in soil moisture and the relationships to carbon fluxes and their associated uncertainties on a continental scale.

Get the data

airmoss_l1_sigma0_metoli_1412_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="AirMOSS_L1_Sigma0_Metoli_1412",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ORNL_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.