CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY
- L-band Radar (SMAP)
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Full Name
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L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SMAP)
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Status
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No longer operational
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Instrument Agencies
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NASA
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Maturity
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Instrument Type
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Imaging microwave radars 
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Geometry
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Conical scanning
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Instrument Technology
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Imaging radar (SAR)
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Sampling
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Other
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Data Access
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Open Access
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Data Format
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HDF-5
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Measurements and Applications
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High-resolution measurements of radar backscatter for global estimates of surface soil moisture and freeze/thaw states for climate modeling and weather prediction. The radar instrument stopped transmitting on 7 July 2015.
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Resolution Summary
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<3 km spatial resolution over 70% of swath; 3 days temporal resolution. Soil moisture will be estimated at a resolution of 10 km and freeze-thaw state at a resolution of 1-3 km.
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Swath Summary
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40-deg constant incidence angle across the 1000 km swath
[Max Swath: 1000 km]
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Accuracy Summary
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<1dB Co-polarization; <1.5 dB cross-polarization at 3 km resolution
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Waveband Summary
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L-Band (1.2 GHz)
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| MW (~0.1 cm - ~100 cm) |
| L-Band (2 - 1 GHz) |
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Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
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Instrument Missions
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