Constructing and analyzing a 32-years climate data record of remotely sensed soil moisture

Satellite observations from active and passive microwave sensors have been successfully used to infer the status of soil water at a global scale. The individual instruments that can be used for this purpose cover a period of more than 30 years. Combining the separate missions into a single homogenized dataset would provide a unique opportunity to study the dynamics of soil moisture over space and time. This study presents a recently developed method for combining global soil moisture datasets with different specifications into a merged data record. The approach profits from the advantages of the various products and retrieval techniques while explicitly addressing the uncertainties related to vegetation density. Initially, products from two active and four passive microwave mission were combined. The merged dataset was analyzed with respect to trends and connects with various climate modes.