@article{PAR00011386,
  title = {{T}oward vicarious calibration of microwave remote-sensing satellites in arid environments},
  author = {{R}udiger, {C}. and {W}alker, {J}. {P}. and {K}err, {Y}ann and {K}im, {E}. {J}. and {H}acker, {J}. {M}. and {G}urney, {R}. {J}. and {B}arrett, {D}. and {L}e {M}arshall, {J}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he {S}oil {M}oisture and {O}cean {S}alinity ({SMOS}) satellite marks the commencement of dedicated global surface soil moisture missions, and the first mission to make passive microwave observations at {L}-band. {O}n-orbit calibration is an essential part of the instrument calibration strategy, but on-board beam-filling targets are not practical for such large apertures. {T}herefore, areas to serve as vicarious calibration targets need to be identified. {S}uch sites can only be identified through field experiments including both in situ and airborne measurements. {F}or this purpose, two field experiments were performed in central {A}ustralia. {T}hree areas are studied as follows: 1) {L}ake {E}yre, a typically dry salt lake; 2) {W}irrangula {H}ill, with sparse vegetation and a dense cover of surface rock; and 3) {S}impson {D}esert, characterized by dry sand dunes. {O}f those sites, only {W}irrangula {H}ill and the {S}impson {D}esert are found to be potentially suitable targets, as they have a spatial variation in brightness temperatures of <4 {K} under normal conditions. {H}owever, some limitations are observed for the {S}impson {D}esert, where a bias of 15 {K} in vertical and 20 {K} in horizontal polarization exists between model predictions and observations, suggesting a lack of understanding of the underlying physics in this environment. {S}ubsequent comparison with model predictions indicates a {SMOS} bias of 5 {K} in vertical and 11 {K} in horizontal polarization, and an unbiased root mean square difference of 10 {K} in both polarizations for {W}irrangula {H}ill. {M}ost importantly, the {SMOS} observations show that the brightness temperature evolution is dominated by regular seasonal patterns and that precipitation events have only little impact.},
  keywords = {{C}alibration ; environmental monitoring ; passive microwave remote sensing ; soil moisture ; {AUSTRALIE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{IEEE} {T}ransactions on {G}eoscience and {R}emote {S}ensing},
  volume = {52},
  numero = {3},
  pages = {1749--1760},
  ISSN = {0196-2892},
  year = {2014},
  DOI = {10.1109/tgrs.2013.2254121},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/{PAR}00011386},
}