Polarimetric Passive Microwave Signatures and RFI Suppression During the Soil Moisture Experiment/ Polarimetry Land Experiment in 2005

The Soil Moisture Experiments in 2005 (SMEX05) and Polarimetry Land experiments (POLEX) were conducted jointly by the US Naval Research Laboratory, the USDA ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory and other cooperators in Ames, Iowa between 13 June and 3 July 2005. Leveraging upon proven methodology and existing facilities and experience from the preceding SMEX02 experiment, SMEX05/POLEX was designed to address algorithm development and validation issues related to current and future soil moisture sensor systems, including enhancement of the Aqua AMSR-E and WindSat soil moisture validation. It also encompasses three unique elements in its scientific objectives: (1) Exploration of unique polarimetric information from satellite sensors such as WindSat and CMIS for soil moisture with supporting NRL aircraft instrumentation. (2) Exploration of diurnal effects associated with soil, vegetation and atmosphere at the 6 am/6 pm observing times of WindSat, CMIS, Hydros, and SMOS. (3) Statistics and mitigation of RFI for CMIS risk reduction. In this paper, we present an overview of the experiment and some preliminary data analysis.