Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface radar retrieval of root zone soil moisture: Preliminary results

We present an overview of the radar retrieval processing system for estimation of root zone soil moisture (RZSM) in several major North American biomes as one of the products of the Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) project. The AirMOSS mission is briefly described along with the methodologies implemented to collect field data, to prepare several data layers required for retrievals, and to ultimately retrieve the soil moisture profiles. The retrieved soil moisture maps over several sites will be available when the radar data from AirMOSS flights are fully processed and calibrated, which is anticipated in early 2013.