Data collection
The data measured at the 20 AMS (Automatic Meteorological Stations) go with the flow of synoptic data at an interval of 10 minutes on the RFC>COF path and are registered in the National Meteorological Data Base.
The data from the stations with the Decagon transducer that interests us (permittivity, soil temperature and volumetric moisture) are transmitted together with the other quantities that are collected on the operational flow of National Meteorological Administration.
The COFData data base collection – tables for Decagon quantities
Satellite Data Collection
For downloading the SMOS products, a Project Proposal was necessary (Full Proposal) on the ESA site. After receiving the information access (through username and password) the Eoli-sa software was installed, specially created for downloading the ESA products.
Sentinel-1 Data
At the moment, the downloading procedure of the Sentinel-1 data in not automatic. They are downloaded with the help of Sentinel-1 HUB, through a username and a password.
Additional satellite information
At the moment, the downloading procedure of the Sentinel-1 data in not automatic. They are downloaded with the help of Sentinel-1 HUB, through a username and a password.
| Satellite | Instrument | Spatial resolution | Temporal resolution | Orbital altitude | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASCAT | Band C | 25–35 km (resampled 12.5 km) | 1-2 days | 822 km | Operational |
| SMOS | Band L | ~40-50 km (resampled L2 ~15 km) | 1-3 days | 757 km | Operational |
| WindSat | Band C | 50 km | 1-2 days | 840 km | Operational |
| Sentinel 1 | Band C | 1 km | 1-3 days | 693 km | Operational |
| SMAP | Band L | 10 km (activ) 40 km (pasiv) | 1-2 days | 685 km | Planned |
Satellites and measurement instruments of soil moisture
Data Storage
The types of data to be stored on the RS2414+ Network Storage Synology system are:
- Soil moisture and temperature data provided by the Decagon 5TM sensors;
- Satellite data: SMOS Level 2 (approximately a 300 kb file for Romania only), Sentinel-1 (volume of approximately 1.5 GB in GRD module; 8GB in SLC module), ASCAT from MetOp, other data;
- Other extracted parameters from the National Meteorological Administration (like air temperature, precipitations etc.).
Design and validation module implementation
The validation of SMOS products with in-situ measurements are carried out in a semi-automatic way. Downloading the soil moisture measurements data from the sensors placed in the ground as well as the downloading SMOS images are carried out automatically, without the intervention of an operator.
The acquired datasets are processed semi-automatically using the R program for which a special validation package has been created.
The validation mode uses only analysis and processing scripts for semi-automatic analysis.
The SMOS product validation mode design.