RFI Detection Algorithm: Accurate Geolocation of the Interfering Sources in SMOS Images

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite is strongly affected by radio-frequency interference (RFI). A detection algorithm has been developed to accurately obtain the coordinates of the interfering source emitters from the SMOS images. The results obtained from this detection algorithm are regularly used to locate the on-ground sources of interference. This has allowed the identification and termination of over 200 RFI sources observed by SMOS. In the majority of cases, the accuracy of the coordinates provided was better than 4 km, which is a very important achievement considering that SMOS spatial resolution is larger than 35 km and that the contamination of a single RFI can extend to several thousands of kilometers in some cases.