ESA title

The mission

ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is dedicated to making global observations of soil moisture over land and salinity over oceans. By consistently mapping these two important components in the water cycle, SMOS is advancing our understanding of the exchange processes between Earth’s surface and atmosphere and is helping to improve weather and climate models.

The launch

Date: 2 November 2009
Site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
Launcher: Rockot

SMOS
Alboran Sea salinity change
Applications

SMOS brings Mediterranean salinity into focus

11/05/2017 4564 views 54 likes
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Ice thickness from CryoSat and SMOS
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Satellite cousins have ice covered

16/12/2016 4050 views 63 likes
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Soil moisture processed two ways
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SMOS on speed

14/10/2016 3506 views 55 likes
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Salinity at the equator
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SMOS tracks Pacific fresh water pools

27/07/2016 3993 views 57 likes
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Fort McMurray wildfires
Applications

Canadian fires tracked by satellites

19/05/2016 18973 views 59 likes
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Elbara in Tibet
Applications

SMOS gets help from Tibet

29/01/2016 3804 views 53 likes
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Applications

SMOS meets ocean monsters

30/09/2015 8214 views 73 likes
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SMOS
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SMOS sings the song of ice and fire

02/07/2015 4022 views 44 likes
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SMOS
Applications

Call for Media: New applications for ESA’s SMOS mission

18/05/2015 1628 views 19 likes
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Ocean alkalinity
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SMOS on acid

17/02/2015 10360 views 105 likes
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Applications

Salinity matters

18/12/2014 10562 views 59 likes
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Five years of soil moisture, ocean salinity and beyond

03/11/2014 8858 views 57 likes
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Thin sea ice
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Versatility extends life of water mission

18/07/2014 2606 views 43 likes
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Crop yield
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Water mission boosts food security

21/05/2014 4683 views 52 likes
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Applications

What lies beneath?

09/01/2014 5736 views 58 likes
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Triple storm
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SMOS sees triple superstorms

22/10/2013 6708 views 52 likes
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Soil moisture analysis
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Water mission versatility

12/09/2013 2304 views 26 likes
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SMOS tracks Hurricane Igor
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ESA’s Earth satellites are stars

21/06/2013 6537 views 34 likes
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Applications

SMOS maps record soil water before flood

07/06/2013 7583 views 41 likes
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Applications

Taking two bites at ocean salinity

22/04/2013 3409 views 17 likes
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Flooded forest, Czech Republic
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Water mission extends its talents to carbon

22/03/2013 2298 views 15 likes
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Applications

SMOS: the global success story continues

22/02/2013 8791 views 31 likes
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Hurricane Sandy from SMOS
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Super storm tracked by ESA water mission

09/11/2012 2270 views 7 likes
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Applications

ESA satellites looking deeper into sea ice

05/10/2012 3454 views 0 likes
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SMOS vs Argo
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SMOS has a better look at salinity

01/10/2012 2792 views 3 likes
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SMOS vs Argo
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SMOS has a better look at salinity

01/10/2012 1236 views 1 likes
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Sea surface salinity
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SMOS satellite measurements improve as ground radars switch…

03/07/2012 3476 views 3 likes
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Applications

Over 30 years of global soil moisture observations for clim…

19/06/2012 13590 views 7 likes
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Europe soil moisture decrease
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Europe’s dry soils seen from space

30/05/2012 3610 views 0 likes
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Applications

SMOS water mission turns hurricane hunter

10/02/2012 2629 views 1 likes
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Laptev Sea ice thickness from SMOS
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SMOS versatility offers sea ice mapping

20/12/2011 2715 views 2 likes
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Frozen soil
Applications

SMOS detects freezing soil as winter takes grip

14/12/2011 2276 views 2 likes
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Soil moisture, November 2010 and 2011
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SMOS maps Europe’s dry autumn soils

07/12/2011 3895 views 3 likes
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Calibration tower, Antarctica
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Antarctic ice sheet assures SMOS accuracy

02/12/2011 1391 views 2 likes
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Envisat image of the Arctic
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Arctic ice nears record low

14/09/2011 2363 views 1 likes
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Certificate of Achievement for SMOS team
Enabling & Support

Accolade for water mission technology

22/08/2011 1047 views 0 likes
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Applications

Horn of Africa drought seen from space

22/07/2011 1916 views 1 likes
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Applications

SMOS gains clearer view as illegal transmitters shut down

14/06/2011 1783 views 4 likes
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Comparison of soil moisture in 2010 and 2011
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ESA's water mission keeps tabs on dry spring soils

12/05/2011 1164 views 1 likes
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Fòrum Marítim Català
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World race yields salinity data for ESA's SMOS mission

18/02/2011 1227 views 0 likes
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Satellite data to improve flood forecasting

26/01/2011 3123 views 4 likes
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Mean dynamic topography of global ocean
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ESA missions highlighted at world's largest scientific conf…

17/12/2010 1859 views 1 likes
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SMOS in orbit
Applications

ESA's SMOS water mission celebrates first year in orbit

02/11/2010 2296 views 0 likes
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Spain almost free of radio interference
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SMOS water mission winning battle with interference

06/10/2010 3781 views 2 likes
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Applications

Water mission reveals insight into Amazon plume

03/09/2010 2017 views 0 likes
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Applications

SMOS shines at symposium

30/06/2010 1597 views 0 likes
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SMOS in orbit
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ESA's SMOS water mission goes live

21/05/2010 2054 views 0 likes
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Dry soil
Applications

New global network validates SMOS soil moisture data

14/05/2010 2636 views 1 likes
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Fibre optics
Enabling & Support

ESA missions extend fibre optics to orbit

28/04/2010 3327 views 5 likes
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Taking in soil moisture measurements
Applications

Australian field campaign validates SMOS data

09/03/2010 1224 views 1 likes
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