Development of SMAP (soil moisture active and passive) Freeze/Thaw algorithms adapted for the Canadian Tundra

This study is conducted in the framework of the NASA SMAP mission. The frozen soil mapping would certainly be improved by using the future NASA SMAP instruments which include both a Radiometer and a SAR operating at L-band. SMAP will have the ability to sense the soil conditions through moderate land cover. The radiometric accuracy, the better spatial resolution 40 km passive and 3 km active, and the global coverage of SMAP will make possible the monitoring of the seasonal F/T cycle at a regional scale. The objective of this study is to develop algorithms to track the seasonally F/T over the Tundra and the Boreal Forest. The experimental site is located in Northern Quebec (Nunavik) in Canada. We use available SMOS data from Environment Canada and in situ temperature and soil moisture data measured in different environments of the tundra and taiga.