Validation of AMSR-E soil moisture product and the future perspective of soil moisture estimation using SMOS data over tropical region

Validation of AMSR-E soil moisture product (AE_Land3) over densely vegetated areas in a tropical region (Peninsular Malaysia) has been conducted in this study. The daily AE_Land3 soil moisture product at 25 km spatial scale were compared with the ground data over a period of 2 years (2008 and 2009), collected at Pasoh Forest Reserve (PSO), Malaysia. The validation was built separately on the relationship with the ascending and descending data. Among the results, correlation based on each set of data was found low, with r²<;0.01. This is proven the AE_Land3 soil moisture product derived by C-band data are not suitable in representing soil moisture over tropical regions. The recently launched SMOS satellite with L-band radiometer provides a new avenue to overcome this problem. Validation of this new product is in plan to ensure the capability of this product to provide soil moisture information over the tropical region.