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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Level 2 Ocean Salinity Processor

Commissioning Plan

7 May 2009

ARGANSACRI-ST

ICM-CSICLOCEAN-IPSL

IFREMER

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

First look

Southern Pacific Ocean orbits over region far from land: 120°W and 150°W, 30°S and the equator

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

• Compare L1c brightness temperatures (BT) with L2 direct models, including ground-truth geophysical parameters (wind speed, SST, SSS)– far from land, relatively homogeneous & well

monitored ocean region– scatter plots of L1c and L2OS_fwd TBs by grid

point (+ distance to ground track) & snapshot

• If biases > ± 1K OS cannot be retrieved without correction

First look

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Long term• compare L1c BT with L2 direct models • verify T3, radiometric accuracy• error autocorrelation • Acard/sea-ice detection• verify retrieved parameters with climatology• optical data matching• tuning direct models• examine distance to coast thresholds effects

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Priority 1• Goal: comparison of L1c brightness

temperatures with L2 OS direct models using ECMWF forcing– open ocean: ascending and descending orbits over

well monitored homogeneous salinity regions– plot average, stdev, of differences in FOV

referential (cos dir geometry)– plot average, stdev, of differences per grid point

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Priority 1• Goal: verification of T3– comparison of L1c T3 with L2 direct models– open ocean with relatively homogeneous SSS

• Goal: radiometric accuracy wrt FOV mean TB & autocorrelation of the error

– plot radiometric accuracy with FOV trend removed– compare autocorrelation of the temperature

residuals TB(L1c) - TB(L2OS) to the WEF

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Priority 2• Goal: comparison of L1c brightness

temperatures with L2 OS direct models using retrieved parameters or ECMWF forcing– plot average, std, skewness, kurtosis of

differences in FOV (cos dir geometry)– plot Tx and Ty as function of incidence angle

(pointing)– histograms of the differences in TBs, dividing

measurements into AF-FOV and EAF-FOV classes

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Priority 2• Goal: verification of the radiometric noise

– plot Var(Tbmodel-Tbmeasured_DP) / Var(Tbmodel-Tbmeasured_FP) in FOV

– plot Var(Tbmodel-Tbmeasured) wrt distance to boresight

• Goal: Acard/sea-ice detection– look at compatibility between retrieved Acard and

known values of dielectric constants

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Priority 3 & 4 goals• comparison of L1c brightness temperatures

with L2 OS direct models• verification of retrieved parameters based on

climatology (FP and DP) and other classes• optical data matching• tuning direct models• distance to coast thresholds effects

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

High coverage test sites

• North Atlantic• SW tropical Pacific• South of Tasmania• Equatorial

• Tarfaya model region• Amazon Plume• Gulf of Biscay• Mediterranean Sea

Test sites: 70-80% availability (time):

Southern Pacific Ocean (first look)100% availability before KP1; 60-70% afterwards

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Operational Monitoring Facility sites• TAO-PIRATA & moored buoys (16), ±1 degree,

filter data using L2 OS global quality indicators, extract average, std for every intersecting orbit:– ECMWF Sea_Surface_Temperature,

Significant_Wave_Height, Wind_Zonal_Lowest_Level, Wind_Meridonal_Lowest_Level

– L2 OS SSS from forward models 1, 2 & 3– MIR_BWSD1C BT_VALUE

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Schedule• First look:

– ESL collocation at ESAC 2-3 weeks after launch (KP0/first image), for first look image analysis

• Priority 1:– preliminary dual & full pol report for KP1

(estimate of L1c accuracy)– radiometric accuracy assessment & analysis of

dual versus full for KP2 & SVRT release decision– report comparing dual & full pol for KP3

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Schedule• Priority 2:

– if good progress with priority 1:• preliminary dual pol report for KP1

– otherwise• preliminary dual pol report for KP2

– report comparing dual & full pol for KP3

• Priority 3 & 4 (only if priority 1 & 2 successful):– report for KP3

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SMOS L2 Ocean Salinity Commissioning Plan, 07/05/2009

Questions• What is the role of each KP?• When will first calibrated data be available for

our Southern Pacific site?• For calibration frequency analysis, will we get

the complete data set used to generate the L1c products?

• What metric will be used to determine calibration frequency?