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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Psyche captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 180 million miles (290 kilometers) away in July 2025, as it calibrated its imager instrument. When choosing targets for the imager testing, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Headed for a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, the Psyche spacecraft successfully calibrated its cameras by looking homeward.
On schedule for its 2029 arrival at the asteroid Psyche, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft recently looked back toward home and captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 180 million miles (290 million kilometers) away. The images were obtained during one of the mission team’s periodic checkouts of the spacecraft’s science instruments.
On July 20 and July 23, the spacecraft’s twin cameras captured multiple long-exposure (up to 10-second) pictures of the two bodies, which appear as dots sparkling with reflected sunlight amid a starfield in the constellation Aries.
Learn more about the multispectral imager aboard Psyche that will use a pair of identical cameras with filters and telescopic lenses to photograph the surface of the asteroid in different wavelengths of light. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU The Psyche multispectral imager instrument comprises a pair of identical cameras equipped with filters and telescopic lenses to photograph the asteroid Psyche’s surface in different wavelengths of light. The color and shape of a planetary body’s spectrum can reveal details about what it’s made of. The Moon and the giant asteroid Vesta, for example, have similar kinds of “bumps and wiggles” in their spectra that scientists could potentially also detect at Psyche. Members of the mission’s science team are interested in Psyche because it will help them better understand the formation of rocky planets with metallic cores, including Earth.
When choosing targets for the imager testing and calibration, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does. They also look at objects that have a spectrum they’re familiar with, so they can compare previous telescopic or spacecraft data from those objects with what Psyche’s instruments observe. Earlier this year, Psyche turned its lenses toward Jupiter and Mars for calibration — each has a spectrum more reddish than the bluer tones of Earth. That checkout also proved a success.
The Psyche spacecraft is taking a spiral path around the solar system in order to get a boost from a Mars gravity assist in 2026. It will arrive at the asteroid Psyche in 2029. NASA/JPL-Caltech To determine whether the imager’s performance is changing, scientists also compare data from the different tests. That way, when the spacecraft slips into orbit around Psyche, scientists can be sure that the instrument behaves as expected.
“After this, we may look at Saturn or Vesta to help us continue to test the imagers,” said Jim Bell, the Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University in Tempe. “We’re sort of collecting solar system ‘trading cards’ from these different bodies and running them through our calibration pipeline to make sure we’re getting the right answers.”
Strong and Sturdy
The imager wasn’t the only instrument that got a successful checkout in late July: The mission team also put the spacecraft’s magnetometer and the gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer through a gamut of tests — something they do every six months.
“We are up and running, and everything is working well,” said Bob Mase, the mission’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’re on target to fly by Mars in May 2026, and we are accomplishing all of our planned activities for cruise.”
That flyby is the spacecraft’s next big milestone, when it will use the Red Planet’s gravity as a slingshot to help the spacecraft get to the asteroid Psyche. That will mark Psyche’s first of two planned loops around the solar system and 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) since launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2023.
More About Psyche
The Psyche mission is led by ASU. Lindy Elkins-Tanton of the University of California, Berkeley is the principal investigator.A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. ASU leads the operations of the imager instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego on the design, fabrication, and testing of the cameras.
Psyche is the 14th mission selected as part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, managed the launch service.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to:
http://www.science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche
Check out the Psyche spacecraft’s trajectory in 3D News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
A collaboration between NASA and the small business Aloft Sensing produced a new compact radar system that will enable researchers to leverage High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) platforms to observe dynamic Earth systems. This new radar is small, provides highly sensitive measurements, and doesn’t require GPS for positioning; eventually, it could be used on vehicles in space.
HALE InSAR flies aboard a high-altitude balloon during a test-flight. This lightweight instrument will help researchers measure ground deformation and dynamic Earth systems. Credit: Aloft Sensing Long before a volcano erupts or a mountainous snowpack disappears, millimeter-scale changes in Earth’s surface indicate larger geologic processes are at work. But detecting those minute changes, which can serve as early warnings for impending disasters, is difficult.
With support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO ) a team of researchers from the small aerospace company Aloft Sensing is developing a compact radar instrument for observing Earth’s surface deformation, topography, and vegetation with unprecedented precision.
Their project, “HALE InSAR,” has demonstrated the feasibility of using high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) vehicles equipped with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to observe changes in surface deformation mere millimeters in size and terrain information with centimetric vertical accuracy.
“It’s a level of sensitivity that has eluded traditional radar sensors, without making them bulky and expensive,” said Lauren Wye, CEO of Aloft Sensing and principal investigator for HALE InSAR.
HALE vehicles are lightweight aircraft designed to stay airborne for extended periods of time, from weeks to months and even years. These vehicles can revisit a scene multiple times an hour, making them ideal for locating subtle changes in an area’s geologic environment.
InSAR, a remote sensing technique that compares multiple images of the same scene to detect changes in surface topography or determine structure, is also uniquely well-suited to locate these clues. But traditional InSAR instruments are typically too large to fly aboard HALE vehicles.
HALE InSAR is different. The instrument is compact enough for a variety of HALE vehicles, weighing less than 15 pounds (seven kilograms) and consuming fewer than 300 watts of power, about as much energy as it takes to power an electric bike.
HALE InSAR leverages previously-funded NASA technologies to make such detailed measurements from a small platform: a novel electronically steered antenna and advanced positioning algorithms embedded within an agile software-defined transceiver. These technologies were developed under ESTO’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP) and Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) Program, respectively.
“All of the design features that we’ve built into the instrument are starting to showcase themselves and highlight why this payload in particular is distinct from what other small radars might be looking to achieve,” said Wye.
One of those features is a flat phased array antenna, which gives users the ability to focus HALE InSAR’s radar beam without physically moving the instrument. Using a panel about the size of a tablet computer, operators can steer the beam electronically, eliminating the need for gimbles and other heavy components, which helps enable the instrument’s reduced size and weight.
A close up HALE InSAR fixed to a high-altitude airship. The flat planar antenna reduces the instruments mass and eliminates the need for gimbles and other heavy components. Credit: Aloft Sensing “SAR needs to look to the side. Our instrument can be mounted straight down, but look left and right on every other pulse such that we’re collecting a left-looking SAR image and a right-looking SAR image essentially simultaneously. It opens up opportunities for the most mass-constrained types of stratospheric vehicles,” said Wye.
Using advanced positioning algorithms, HALE InSAR also has the unique ability to locate itself without GPS, relying instead on feedback from its own radar signals to determine its position even more accurately. Brian Pollard, Chief Engineer at Aloft Sensing and co-investigator for HALE InSAR, explained that precise positioning is essential for creating high-resolution data about surface deformation and topography.
“SAR is like a long exposure camera, except with radio waves. Your exposure time could be a minute or two long, so you can imagine how much smearing goes on if you don’t know exactly where the radar is,” said Pollard.
Navigating without GPS also makes HALE InSAR ideal for field missions in austere environments where reliable GPS signals may be unavailable, increasing the instrument’s utility for national security applications and science missions in remote locations.
The Aloft Sensing team recently achieved several key milestones, validating their instrument aboard an airship at 65,000 feet as well as small stratospheric balloons. Next, they’ll test HALE InSAR aboard a fixed wing HALE aircraft. A future version of their instrument could even find its way into low Earth orbit on a small satellite.
Wye credits NASA support for helping her company turn a prototype into a proven instrument.
“This technology has been critically enabled by ESTO, and the benefit to science and civil applications is huge,” said Wye. “It also exemplifies the dual-use potential enabled by NASA-funded research. We are seeing significant military interest in this capability now that it is reaching maturity. As a small business, we need this hand-in-hand approach to be able to succeed.”
For more information about opportunities to work with NASA to develop new Earth observation technologies, visit esto.nasa.gov.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead: Dr. Lauren Wye, CEO, Aloft Sensing
Sponsoring Organization: NASA’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP)
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This National Aviation Day graphic shows Orville Wright surrounded by the faces of some of NASA’s aeronautical innovators.NASA / Maria Werries The first “A” in NASA stands for Aeronautics – so naturally that means today, Aug. 19, National Aviation Day, is one of our favorite days all year!
National Aviation Day was first proclaimed in 1939 by President Franklin Roosevelt to celebrate the birthday of aviation pioneer Orville Wright, who, with his brother Wilbur, in 1903, were the first humans to achieve powered flight.
Each year since the President first marked the occasion, sky-faring Americans have come together on this date in an annual celebration of flight – a time to revel in spreading our wings and slipping the surly bonds of Earth.
All of us at NASA share in that celebration. We love everything about flight, whether it’s into space or within Earth’s atmosphere.
Our aeronautical innovators are dedicated to improving the design of airplanes to carry on pioneering new technologies in high-speed flight, airframes and propulsion methods, aerospace engineering modelling, and automating airspace and safety management.
Our heritage in aviation research goes back more than 100 years. We’ve helped air travel become a safe, efficient, reliable form of transportation. If you’re heading to an airport, keep an eye out for these NASA-developed aviation technologies you might see on your flight:
WINGLETSNASA studies led to development of vertical extensions that can be attached to wing tips in order to reduce aerodynamic drag without having to increase wingspan. Winglets help increase an airplane’s range, decrease fuel use, and today can be seen on airplanes everywhere.NASA CHEVRON NOZZLESWorking with its industry partners, NASA researchers determined an effective way to reduce noise levels on the ground and in the passenger cabin was to add saw tooth-shaped cut outs, or chevrons, to structures such as exhaust nozzles and cowlings of jet engines.NASA / The Boeing Company GLASS COCKPITS NASA created and tested the concept of replacing dial and gauge instruments with flat panel digital displays. The displays present information more efficiently and provide the flight crew with a more easily understood picture of the aircraft’s health and position.NASA Langley / Sean Smith How Will You Celebrate?
How else can you celebrate National Aviation Day? Here are seven ideas:
Visit your local science museum or NASA visitor center
Explore your local science center for exhibits about aviation and how an airplane flies. And if you live within a short drive from Norfolk, Virginia; Cleveland, or San Francisco, you might consider checking out the visitor centers associated with NASA’s Langley Research Center, Glenn Research Center, or Ames Research Center, respectively. These major NASA field centers play host to the majority of NASA’s aeronautics research. (NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, the fourth of NASA’s aeronautics centers, is located within the restricted area of Edwards Air Force Base in California so they do not have a public visitor’s center.)
Watch an aviation-themed movie
There’s no shortage of classic aviation-themed movies available to watch in any format (streaming, DVD, cinema, library rentals, etc.), and with any snacks (popcorn, nachos, gummies, etc.). We dare not attempt a comprehensive list, but a good place to start is our documentary “X-59: NASA’s “Quesst” for Quiet Supersonic Flight” available to stream on NASA+.
Build an airplane
Why not? It doesn’t have to be big enough to actually fly in – plastic model kits of the world’s most historic aircraft can be just as rewarding and just as educational, especially for kids who might be thinking about a career as an engineer or technician. In fact, many astronauts will tell you their love of aviation and space began with putting models together as a child. Another idea: Grab some LEGO bricks and build the airplane of your dreams. Or make it easy on yourself, fold a paper airplane and shoot it across the room.
Take an introductory flight lesson
Pilots will tell you there is a wonderful sense of freedom in flying, not to mention the incredible views and the personal sense of accomplishment. At the same time, being a pilot is not for everyone, but you won’t know unless you try! Many general aviation airports in the nation have a flight school that may offer an introductory flight lesson at a discounted price. And if you want a taste of flight without leaving the ground, computer desktop flight simulators such as Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane are popular choices and can get you into the virtual sky in short order.
Visit your local library or download a NASA e-book
Aviation-themed books, whether fact or fiction, are all over the shelves of your local library – literally. That’s because there’s no single Dewey Decimal number for aviation. A book about aviation history will be in a different section of the library than a book about how to design an airplane. And creative nonfiction books such as the Mark Vanhoenacker’s “Skyfaring,” or autobiographies such as Eileen Collins’ “Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars,” are off on yet another shelf. Don’t hesitate to ask your librarian for help. And when you get back from the library, or while still there, jump online and check out the NASA e-books you can download and own for free.
Have a plane spotting picnic near an airport
At Washington’s National Airport, it’s Gravelly Point. In Tampa, Florida it’s International Mall. If you live near a major international airport, chances are you know the best place where the locals can go to watch aircraft take off and land up close. Be sure to take heed of any security restrictions about where you can and can’t go. But once you have your spot picked out, then load up your picnic basket and camp out for an evening of plane spotting. See how many different types of airplanes you can count or identify.
Follow what we’re doing to transform aviation
NASA’s aeronautical innovators are working to transform air transportation to meet the future needs of the global aviation community. Sounds like a big job, right? It is and there are many ways in which NASA is doing this. Improving an airplane’s aerodynamics, making airplanes more efficient and quieter, working with the Federal Aviation Administration to improve air traffic control – the list could go on for many thousands of more words. Bookmark our NASA Aeronautics topic page and follow us on social media @NASAaero.
So remember this National Aviation Day, NASA is with you when you fly!
About the Author
John Gould
Aeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 21 min read
A Decade of Global Water Cycle Monitoring: NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission
Introduction
The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, launched in 2015, has over 10 years of global L-band radiometry observations. The low frequency [1.4 GHz frequency or 21 cm (8 in) wavelength] measurements provide information on the state of land surfaces in all weather conditions – regardless of solar illumination. A principal objective of the SMAP mission is to provide estimates of surface soil moisture and its frozen or thawed status. Over the land surface, soil moisture links the water, energy, and carbon cycles. These three cycles are the main drivers of regional climate and regulate the functioning of ecosystems.
The achievement of 10 years in orbit is a fitting time to reflect on what SMAP has accomplished. After briefly discussing the innovative measurement approach and the instrument payload (e.g., a radiometer and a regrettably short-lived L-band radar), a significant section of this article is devoted to describing the mission’s major scientific achievements and how the data from SMAP have been used to serve society (e.g., applied sciences) – including SMAP’s pathfinding role as Early Adopters. This content is followed by a discussion of how SMAP has dealt with issues related to radio frequency interference in the L-Band region, a discussion of the SMAP data products suite, future plans for the SMAP active–passive algorithm, and a possible follow-on L-band global radiometry mission being developed by the European Union’s Copernicus Programme that would allow for data continuity beyond SMAP. This summary for The Earth Observer is excerpted from a longer and more comprehensive paper that, as of this article’s posting, is being prepared for publication in the Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
SMAP Measurement Approach and Instruments
The SMAP primary and operating instrument is the L-band radiometer, which collects precise surface brightness temperature data. The radiometer includes advanced radio frequency interference (RFI) detection and mitigation hardware and software. The radiometer measures vertical and horizontal polarization observations along with the third and fourth Stokes parameters (T3 and T4) of the microwave radiation upwelling from the Earth. The reflector boom and assembly, which includes a 6 m (20 ft) deployable light mesh reflector, is spun at 14.6 revolutions-per-minute, which creates a 1000 km (621 mi) swath as the SMAP satellite makes its Sun-synchronous orbit of the Earth – see Figure 1. This approach allows coverage of the entire globe in two to three days with an eight-day exact repeat. The radiometer instrument is calibrated monthly by pointing it to the deep sky.
Figure 1. An artist’s rendering of the SMAP Observatory showing both the radiometer and radar. Figure credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology The original SMAP instrument design included a companion L-band radar, which operated from April through early July 2015, acquiring observations of co- and cross-polarized radar backscatter at a spatial resolution of about 1 km (0.6 mi) with a temporal revisit of about three days over land. This data collection revealed the dependence of L-band radar signals on soil moisture, vegetation water content, and freeze thaw state. The radar transmitter failed on July 7, 2015. Shortly thereafter, the radar receiver channels were repurposed to record the reflected signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellation in August 2015, making SMAP the first full-polarimetric GNSS reflectometer in space for the investigation of land surface and cryosphere.
Scientific Achievements from a Decade of SMAP Data
A decade of SMAP soil moisture observations have led to a plethora of scientific achievements. The data have been used to quantify the linkages of the three main metabolic cycles (e.g., carbon, water, and energy) on land. They have also been used to improve drought assessments and flood prediction as well as the accuracy of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. They are also used to measure liquid water and thickness of ice sheets, and sea surface salinity. The subsections that follow describe how SMAP data are being put to use in myriad ways that benefit society.
Quantifying Processes that Link the Terrestrial Water, Energy, and Carbon Cycles
The primary SMAP science goal is to develop observational benchmarks of how the water, energy, and carbon cycles link together over land. Soil moisture is the variable state of the land branch of the water cycle. It links the water cycle to the energy cycle through limiting latent heat flux – the change in energy as heat exchanges when water undergoes a phase change, such as evapotranspiration at the land–atmosphere interface. Soil moisture also links the water and carbon cycles, which is evident through plant photosynthesis. SMAP global observations of soil moisture fields, in conjunction with remote sensing of elements of the energy and carbon cycles, can reveal how these three cycles are linked in the real world as a benchmark for weather and Earth system models.
Photosynthesis is down-regulated by both the deficit in water availability and the lack of an adequate amount of photosynthetically active radiation. Global maps reveal how soil moisture and light regulate photosynthesis – see Figure 2. These benchmark observational results can be used to assess how Earth system models link to the three main metabolic cycles of the climate system.
Figure 2. Observed regulation of photosynthesis by water availability [left] and light availability [right]. Blue denotes greater limitation. Photosynthesis rates for both maps determined using solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) measurements (mW/m2 nm sr) from the Tropospheric Ozone Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission. Water availability was determined using soil moisture (SM) measurements from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. Light availability was determined using measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua platforms. The resulting maps show the model slope (mW/m2/nm/sr) of the estimated SIF-SM relationship in the water-limited regime [left] and the model slope (10-3/nm/sr) of estimated SIF-PAR relationship in the light-limited regime [right]. Figure credit: Jonard et al (2022) in Biogeosciences Development of Improved Flood Prediction and Drought Monitoring Capability
SMAP products have also been widely used in applied sciences and natural hazard decision-support systems. SMAP’s observation-based soil moisture estimates offer transformative information for managing water-related natural hazards, such as monitoring agricultural drought – defined as a persistent deficit in soil moisture – and flood volumes – defined as the landscape’s water absorption capacity during precipitation events. The SMAP project produces a parallel, near-real-time data stream that is accessed by a number of federal and state agencies in decision-support systems related to drought monitoring, food security, and landscape inundation and trafficability.
Enhancing Weather and Climate Forecasting Skill
SMAP’s enhancement of numerical weather prediction, model skill, and reduction of climate model projection uncertainties is based on the premise of the contribution of solar energy to weather and climate dynamics. Soil moisture has a strong influence on how available solar energy is partitioned into components (e.g., sensible heat flux versus latent heat flux) over land. The influence propagates through the atmospheric boundary layer and ultimately influences the evolution of weather.
To give an example, land surface processes can affect the evolution of the U.S. Great Plains low-level jets (GPLLJs). These jets drive mesoscale convective weather systems. Previous studies have shown that GPLLJs are sensitive to regional soil moisture gradients. Assimilation of SMAP soil moisture data improves forecasts of weakly synoptically forced or uncoupled GPLLJs compared to forecasts of cyclone-induced coupled GPLLJs. For example, the NASA Unified Weather Research and Forecasting Model, with 75 GPLLJs at 9 km (5.6 mi) resolution both with and without SMAP soil moisture data assimilation [SMAP data assimilation (DA) and no-DA respectively], shows how the windspeed mean absolute difference between SMAP DA and no-DA increase approximately linearly over the course of the simulation with maximum differences at 850 hPa (or mb) for the jet entrance and core – see Figure 3.
Figure 3. The impact of adding soil moisture data [SMAP data assimilation (DA) minus no-DA] to a model simulation from theNASA Unified Weather Research and Forecasting Model (NU-WRF)) of the Great Plains Low Level Jet (GPLLJ). The results show the mean over 75 independent GPLLJ events. The plots correspond to wind speed difference with height (y-axis) and time (hours on x-axis). The panels are for jet entrance [left], jet core [middle] and jet exit [right]. Soil moisture data assimilation enhances the intensity of the simulated GPLLJ. The stippling corresponds to 99% statistical confidence. Figure credit: Ferguson (2020) in Monthly Weather Review Measuring Liquid Water Content and Thickness of Ice Sheets
The mass loss of Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets contributes to sea-level rise – which is one of the most impactful and immediate damaging consequences of climate change. The melt rates over the last few years have raised alarm across the globe and impact countries with coastal communities. The cryosphere community has raised a call-to-action to use every observing system and model available to monitor the patterns and rates of land ice melt.
Surface melt affects the ice cap mass loss in many ways: the direct melt outflow from the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, the structural change of the percolation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, changes in the melt water retention and outflow boundaries, changes in the structure of the Antarctic ice shelves, and destabilization of the buttressing of the glacier outflow through various processes (e.g., hydrofracturing and calving). The long-term climate and mass balance models rely on accurate representation of snow, firn, and ice processes to project the future sea level.
The SMAP L-band radiometer has relatively long wavelength [21 cm (8 in)] observations compared to other Earth-observing instruments. It enables the measurement of liquid water content (LWC) in the ice sheets and shelves as it receives the radiation from the deep layers of the snow/firn/ice column. Relatively high LWC values absorb the emission only partially, making the measurement sensitive to different liquid water amounts (LWA) in the entire column. Figure 4 shows the cumulative LWA for 2015–2023 based on SMAP measurements.
Figure 4. Total annual sum of SMAP daily liquid water amount (LWA) for 2015–2023. The black solid line on each map represents grid edges, and the grey color mask inside the ice sheet indicates melt detections by decreasing brightness temperature. Figure Credit: Andreas Colliander [Finnish Meteorological Institute]. The SMAP L-band radiometer has also been used to derive the thickness of thin sea ice [Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission have been recalibrated to SMAP, using the same fixed incidence angle. The data show strong agreement and demonstrate clear benefits of a combined dataset. The L-band thin ice thickness retrievals provide a useful complement to higher-resolution profiles of thicker ice obtained from satellite altimeters (e.g. ESA’s CryoSat-2 and NASA’s Ice, Clouds and land Elevation Satellite–2 missions).
Extending and Expanding the Aquarius Sea Surface Salinity Record
The joint NASA/Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D (Aquarius), which operated from 2011–2015, used an L-band radiometer and an L-band scatterometer to make unprecedented monthly maps of global sea surface salinity at 150-km (93-mi) resolution. The SMAP L-band radiometer has not only extended the sea surface salinity record in the post-Aquarius period, it has also increased the spatial resolution and temporal frequency of these measurements because of its larger reflector and wider swath. The increased resolution and revisit allow new and unprecedented perspectives into mixing and freshwater events, coastal plume tracking, and other more local oceanic features.
Providing New Perspectives on Global Ecology and Plant Water Stress
The L-band vegetation optical depth (VOD) – which is related to water content in vegetation – has been retrieved simultaneously with soil moisture using SMAP’s dual-polarized brightness temperatures and is being used to better understand global ecology. Water in above-ground vegetative tissue attenuates and thus depolarizes surface microwave emission, and VOD quantifies this effect. SMAP can provide global observations of VOD in all weather conditions with a two to three day temporal frequency. Changes in VOD indicate either plant rehydration or growth. Ecologists benefit from this new ecosystem observational data, which augments optical and near-infrared vegetation indices [e.g., leaf area index (LAI)] and has a higher temporal frequency that is not affected by clouds and does not saturate as rapidly for dense vegetation.
Examples of how the data have been used include deciphering the conditions when vegetation uptakes soil water only for rehydration (i.e., VOD increase with no LAI change) compared to plant growth (i.e., increase in both VOD and LAI). The applications of VOD are increasing and the ecology community views this product as a valuable additional perspective on soil–plant water relations.
At the moment, this measurement has no ground-based equivalent. Therefore, field experiments with airborne instruments and ground sampling teams are needed to firmly establish the product as a new observational capability for global ecology.
Applied Science Collaboration: SMAP Observations Serving Society
The SMAP project has worked with the NASA Earth Science Division Applied Sciences Program (now known as Earth Science to Action) and the natural hazards monitoring and forecasting communities for pre- and post-launch implementation of SMAP products in their operations. In some operational applications, for which long-term data continuity is a requirement, the SMAP data are still used for assessment of current conditions, as well as research and development.
The Original Early Adopters
Prior to its launch, the SMAP mission established a program to explore and facilitate applied and operational uses of SMAP mission data products in decision-making activities for societal benefit. To help accomplish these objectives, SMAP was the first NASA mission to create a formal Applications Program and an Early Adopter (EA) program, which eventually became a requirement for all future NASA Earth Science directed satellite missions. SMAP’s EA program increases the awareness of mission products, broadens the user community, increases collaboration with potential users, improves knowledge of SMAP data product capabilities, and expedites the distribution and uses of mission products after launch.
SMAP Data in Action
Several project accomplishments have been achieved primarily through an active continuous engagement with EAs and operational agencies working towards national interests. SMAP soil moisture data have been used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for domestic and international crop yield applications. For example the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts a weekly survey of crop progress, crop condition, and soil moisture condition for U.S. cropland. NASS surveys and publishes state-level soil moisture conditions in the NASS Crop Progress Report.
The traditional field soil moisture survey is a large-scale, labor-intensive data collection effort that relies heavily on responses from farmers, agricultural extension agents and/or other domain experts for field observations. One weakness of these observations is that they are based on subjective assessments rather than quantitative measures and can lead to spatial inconsistency based on the human responses from the respective counties. Moreover, the NASS Crop Progress Reports do not provide specific geolocation information for the assessed soil moisture conditions – which are extremely useful metadata to provide to data users. NASS implemented the use of SMAP observations in their weekly reports during the growing period (March–November). SMAP maps estimated root-zone soil moisture for the week of November 14–20, 2022, over NASS Pacific (California and Nevada) and Delta (Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana) regional domains—see Figure 5.
Figure 5. SMAP-based soil moisture estimates for California, Nevada, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in their weekly report covering November 14–20, 2022. These data are available for selected states at the NASS website linked in the text. Figure Credit: NASS SMAP Radio Frequency Interference Detection and Mitigation
Although SMAP operates within the protected frequency allocation of 1400–1427 MHz, the radiometer has been impacted by radio frequency interference over the mission lifetime. Unauthorized in-band transmitters as well as out-of-band emissions from transmitters operating adjacent to the allocated spectrum have been observed in SMAP measurements since its launch. The previously launched SMOS and Aquarius radiometers provide evidence of global RFI at L-band. Consequently, SMAP was designed to incorporate a novel onboard digital detector on the back end to enable detection and filtering of RFI. The radiometer produces science data in time and frequency, enabling the use of multiple RFI detection methods in the ground processing software.
On-orbit data demonstrate that the RFI detection and filtering performs well and improves the quality of SMAP brightness temperature measurements. The algorithms are most effective at filtering RFI that is sparse in time and frequency, with minimal impact on the noise equivalent delta temperature (NEDT) – a measure of the radiometer sensitivity. Some areas of the globe remain problematic as RFI that is very high level and persistent results in high percentages of data loss due to removal of contaminated data. A global map of RFI detection rate for January 2025 shows a large contrast between Eastern and Western Hemispheres and between Northern and Southern Hemispheres – see Figure 6. Regions of isolated RFI and severe RFI correspond to populated areas. A detection rate of 100% means all pixels are flagged and removed, resulting in data loss. Analysis of spectral information reveal many sources are likely terrestrial radar systems; however, many wideband, high-level sources and low-level, non-radar sources also persist. Over areas of geopolitical conflict, the time-frequency data show interference covering the entire radiometer receiver bandwidth.
Figure 6. Percentage of pixels on a 0.25° grid for January 2025 that have been flagged for removal by the Soil Moisture Active Passive radio frequency interference detection algorithms. Figure Credit: Priscilla N. Mohammed [GSFC] The RFI challenge is further addressed through official spectrum management channels and formal reports that include the geolocated coordinates of sources, interference levels, frequency of occurrence during the observed period, and spectral information – all of which aid field agents as they work to identify potential offenders. Reports are submitted to the NASA Spectrum office and then forwarded to the country of interest through the Satellite Interference Reporting and Resolution System.
SMAP Science Data Products
The current suite of SMAP science data products is available in the Table. The principal data products are grouped in four levels designated as L1–4. The L1 products are instrument L-band brightness temperature in Kelvin and include all four Stokes parameters (i.e., horizonal and vertical polarization as well as third and fourth Stokes). Both 6:00 AM equatorial crossing (descending) and 6:00 PM equatorial crossing (ascending data) are contained in the products. The user has access to quality flags of the conditions under which measurements are available for each project. The L1B products are time-ordered and include fore and aft measurements. L1C products are on the Equal-Area Scalable Earth V2 (EASE2) grid with polar and global projections. L2 data products are geophysical retrievals (i.e., soil moisture, VOD, and binary freeze/thaw classification on a fixed Earth grid). The L2 half-orbit products are available to the public within a day of acquisition. L3 products are daily composites and include all half-orbits for that day.
The SMAP project also produces L4 data that are the result of data assimilation. The L4 products take advantage of other environmental observations, such as precipitation, air temperature and humidity, radiative fluxes at the land surface, and ancillary land use and soil texture information, to produce estimates of surface [nominally 0–5 cm (0–2 in)] and subsurface (e.g., root-zone up to a meter) soil moisture. The data assimilation system is a merger of model and measurements and hence resolves the diurnal cycle of land surface conditions. The data assimilation system also provides estimates of surface fluxes of carbon, energy, and water, such as evaporation, runoff, gross primary productivity (GPP), and respiration. The difference between GPP and respiration is the net ecosystem exchange, which is the net source/sink of the carbon cycle over land.
The SMAP suite of products also include near-real-time (NRT) brightness temperature and soil moisture products for use in operational weather forecast applications. The NRT product targets delivery to users within three hours of measurement acquisition. The NRT uses predicted SMAP antenna pointing (instead of telemetry) and model predicted ancillary data (soil temperature) in order to support operational centers that require more than three hours of data products for updating weather forecast models. To date SMAP has met its required and target (for NRT) latency requirements.
Two other data projects merge synergistically with other (colocated) satellite measurements. The SPL2SMAP_S merges SMAP L-band radio brightness measurements with C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements from the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission. The SAR data have high resolution and allow the generation of 1 and 3 km (0.62 and 1.8 mi) merged surface soil moisture estimates. The high resolution soil moisture information, however, is only available when there is coincident SMAP and Sentinel-1 measurements. The refresh rate of this product is limited and can be as long as 12 days.
The merged SMOS–SMAP passive L-band radiometry data allows the generation of global, near daily surface soil moisture estimates, which are required to resolve fast hydrologic processes, such as gravity drainage and recharge flux. These parameters are only partially resolved with the SMAP, with a two to three day data refresh rate. This product interpolates the multi-angular SMOS data to the SMAP 40º incident angle and uses all SMAP algorithms, including correction of waterbody impact on SMAP brightness temperature, and ancillary data for geophysical inversions to soil moisture and VOD, ensuring consistency. The combined SMAP–SMOS data product may not be available daily across locations, such as Japan, parts of China, and the Middle East, where RFI affects data collection.
Table. Soil Moisture Active Passive suite of science products are available through the National Snow and Ice Data Center, one of NASA’s Distributed Active Archive Centers.
Product Type Product description Resolution (Gridding) Granule Extent SPL1BTB Geolocated, calibrated brightness temperature in time order 36 km Half Orbit SPL1CTB_E Backus-Gilbert interpolated, calibrated brightness temperature in time order (9 km) Half Orbit SPL1CTB Geolocated, calibrated brightness temperature on Equal-Area Scalable Earth V2 (EASE2) grid 36 km Half Orbit SPL1CTB_E Backus-Gilbert interpolated, calibrated brightness temperature on EASE2 grid (9 km) Half Orbit SPL2SMP Radiometer soil moisture and vegetation optical depth 36 km Half Orbit SPL2SMP_E Radiometer soil moisture and vegetation optical depth based on SPL1CTB (9 km) Half Orbit SPL2SMAP_S SMAP radiometer/Copernicus Sentinel-1 soil moisture 3 km Sentinel-1 SPL3SMP Daily global composite radiometer soil moisture and vegetation optical depth based on SPL1CTB 36 km Daily–Global SPL3SMP_E Daily global composite radiometer soil moisture and vegetation optical depth based on SPL1CTB_E (9 km) Daily–Global SPL3FTP Daily composite freeze/thaw state based on SPL1CTB 36 km Daily–Global SPL3FTP_E Daily composite freeze/thaw state based on SPL1CTB_E (9 km) Daily–Global SPL4SMAU Surface and Root Zone soil moisture 9 km 3 hours – Global SPL4CMDL Carbon Net Ecosystem Exchange 9 km Daily–Global SPL1BTB_NRT Near Real Time Geolocated, calibrated brightness temperature in time order 36 km Half Orbit SPL2SMP_NRT Near Real Time Radiometer soil moisture 36 km Half Orbit L2/L3 SMOS SM SMOS soil moisture and VOD based on SMAP algorithms (9 km) Half Orbit/Daily Global Future Directions for the SMAP Active–Passive Algorithm
Although the SMAP radar failed not long after launch, the data that were collected have been used to advance the development of the SMAP Active–Passive (AP) algorithm, which will be applied to the combined SMAP radiometer data and radar data from the NASA–Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar [NISAR] mission, a recently-launched L-Band Synthetic Aperture mission to produce global soil moisture at a spatial resolution of 1 km (0.62 mi) or better. The high resolution product can advance applications of SMAP data (e.g., agricultural productivity, wildfire, and landslide monitoring).
Data Continuity Beyond SMAP
A forthcoming mission meets some – but not all – of the SMAP measurement requirements and desired enhancements. The European Union’s Copernicus Program Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) mission is a proposed multichannel microwave radiometry observatory that includes L-band and four other microwave channels sharing a large mesh reflector. The mesh reflector is similar to the one that is used on SMAP, but larger. The successful SMAP demonstration of rotating large deployable mesh antennas for Earth observations has been useful to the CIMR design.
In terms of RFI detection capability, CIMR will also use an approach that is similar to SMAP. With regard to instrument thermal noise (NEDT) and data latency, CIMR meets or comes close to the next-mission desired characteristics and equals or exceeds SMAP in most of the attributes. The native L-band resolution of CIMR is ~60 km (37 mi); however, the measurements are coincident and higher-resolution measurements in this configuration allow reconstruction of L-band radiometry at higher resolution than CIMR’s L-band. It may be possible to combine the L- and C-bands and achieve a reconstructed ~15 km (9 mi) L-band product based on the coincident and overlapping measurements. A refresh rate of one day is possible with the wide-swath characteristic of CIMR.
CIMR is currently in development; the first version, CIMR-1A, is expected to launch within this decade and the second version, CIMR-1B, in the mid 2030s. Since the Copernicus program supports operational activities (e.g., numerical weather prediction), the program includes plans for follow-on CIMR observatories so that the data record will be maintained without gaps in the future.
Conclusions
The SMAP mission was launched in 2015 and has produced over 10 years of science data. Because of its unique instrument and operating characteristics, the global low-frequency microwave radiometry with the SMAP observatory has resulted in surface soil moisture, vegetation optical depth, and freeze/thaw state estimates that outperform past and current products. The data have been widely used in the Earth system science community and also applied to natural hazards applications.
The Earth system science and application communities are actively using the decade-long, high-quality global L-band radiometry. The intensity and range of SMAP science data usage is evident in the number of peer-reviewed journal publications that contain SMAP or Soil Moisture Active Passive in their title or abstract and use SMAP data in the study (i.e., search: www.webofscience.com data-base). The authors acknowledge that many publications escape this particular query approach. Currently the bibliography includes over 1700 entries and over 20,000 citations spanning several elements of Earth system science, including hydrologic science and regional and global water cycle, oceanic and atmospheric sciences, cryosphere science, global ecology as well as microwave remote sensing technologies.
To Learn More About SMAP
A more comprehensive bibliography of studies published based on SMAP data products, a set of one-page SMAP science and applications highlights in standardized format, and SMAP project documents including assessment reports are all available online via the links provided.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of the SMAP Science Team, the SMAP Algorithm Development Team, and the SMAP Project Office engineers and staff. All of these teams contribute to the ongoing SMAP science product generation and uses reported in this article.
Dara Entekhabi
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
darae@mit.edu
Simon Yueh
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
simon.h.yueh@jpl.nasa.gov
Rajat Bindlish
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
rajat.bindlish@nasa.gov
Mark Garcia
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
mark.d.garcia@jpl.nasa.gov
Jared Entin
NASA Headquarters
jared.k.entin@nasa.gov
Craig Ferguson
NASA Headquarters
craig.r.ferguson@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
The 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA, scheduled to liftoff from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in late August, is heading to the International Space Station with an important investigation for the future of bone health.
The experiment will test how microgravity affects bone-forming and bone-degrading cells and explore potential ways to prevent bone loss. This research could help protect astronauts on future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, while also advancing treatments for millions of people on Earth who suffer from osteoporosis.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are derived from human bone marrow and stained with rapid red dye NASA Space’s Hidden Health Mystery
During long-duration missions, astronauts may experience a gradual reduction in bone density—typically around 1% to 2% per month—even with consistent exercise routines. While scientists understand how bones work on Earth, they aren’t sure exactly why bones weaken so quickly in microgravity.
Previous research aboard the space station revealed that microgravity changes how stem cells behave and what substances they release. Scientists now want to dig deeper into these cellular changes to better understand what causes bone loss in space and explore potential ways to prevent it.
Blocking a Potential Bone Thief
The Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-B (MABL-B) investigation focuses on special stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells, or MSCs. As these cells mature, they build new bone tissue in the body.
Scientists suspect that a protein called IL-6 might be the culprit behind bone problems in space. Data from the earlier MABL-A mission suggests that microgravity promotes the type of IL-6 signaling that enhances bone degradation. The MABL-B experiment will investigate this by testing ways to block this IL-6 signaling pathway.
The experiment will grow mesenchymal stem cells alongside other bone cells in special containers designed for space research. Cells will be cultured for 19 days aboard the space station, with crew members periodically collecting samples for analysis back on Earth.
How this benefits space exploration
The research could lead to targeted treatments that protect astronauts from bone loss during long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. As crews venture farther from Earth, bone health becomes increasingly critical since medical evacuation or emergency return to Earth won’t be possible during Mars missions.
How this benefits humanity
The findings could provide new insights into age-related bone loss that affects millions of people on Earth. Understanding how the IL-6 protein affects bone health may lead to new treatments for osteoporosis and other bone conditions that come with aging.
Related Resources
Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-B (MABL-B) Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A (MABL-A) Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells About BPS
NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomenon under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.
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