ESA - SMOS - Archive

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

758 km mean altitude
69 antenna receivers
10+ years in orbit

SMOS

Nearly four decades of soil moisture data now available

03/11/2017 33492 views 95 likes

Receded shoreline

Italy’s drought seen from space

05/09/2017 15596 views 129 likes

Farming efficiency

Taking farming into the space age

01/08/2017 6816 views 95 likes

Desert locust outbreak

Satellites forewarn of locust plagues

13/06/2017 11976 views 112 likes

Alboran Sea salinity change

SMOS brings Mediterranean salinity into focus

11/05/2017 4995 views 55 likes

Ice thickness from CryoSat and SMOS

Satellite cousins have ice covered

16/12/2016 4328 views 63 likes

Soil moisture processed two ways

SMOS on speed

14/10/2016 3787 views 55 likes

Salinity at the equator

SMOS tracks Pacific fresh water pools

27/07/2016 4277 views 57 likes

Fort McMurray wildfires

Canadian fires tracked by satellites

19/05/2016 20880 views 60 likes

Elbara in Tibet

SMOS gets help from Tibet

29/01/2016 3976 views 53 likes

SMOS meets ocean monsters

30/09/2015 8406 views 73 likes

SMOS

SMOS sings the song of ice and fire

02/07/2015 4230 views 44 likes

SMOS

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

18/05/2015 1753 views 19 likes

Ocean alkalinity

SMOS on acid

17/02/2015 10809 views 106 likes

Salinity matters

18/12/2014 11307 views 59 likes

Five years of soil moisture, ocean salinity and beyond

03/11/2014 9241 views 57 likes

Thin sea ice

Versatility extends life of water mission

18/07/2014 2812 views 43 likes

Crop yield

Water mission boosts food security

21/05/2014 4948 views 52 likes

What lies beneath?

09/01/2014 6009 views 58 likes

Triple storm

SMOS sees triple superstorms

22/10/2013 6894 views 52 likes

Soil moisture analysis

Water mission versatility

12/09/2013 2479 views 26 likes

SMOS tracks Hurricane Igor

ESA’s Earth satellites are stars

21/06/2013 6916 views 34 likes

SMOS maps record soil water before flood

07/06/2013 7583 views 41 likes

Taking two bites at ocean salinity

22/04/2013 3622 views 17 likes

Flooded forest, Czech Republic

Water mission extends its talents to carbon

22/03/2013 2424 views 15 likes

SMOS: the global success story continues

22/02/2013 9174 views 31 likes

Hurricane Sandy from SMOS

Super storm tracked by ESA water mission

09/11/2012 2558 views 7 likes

ESA satellites looking deeper into sea ice

05/10/2012 3776 views 0 likes

SMOS vs Argo

SMOS has a better look at salinity

01/10/2012 3063 views 3 likes

SMOS vs Argo

SMOS has a better look at salinity

01/10/2012 1419 views 1 likes

Sea surface salinity

SMOS satellite measurements improve as ground radars switch…

03/07/2012 3842 views 4 likes

Over 30 years of global soil moisture observations for clim…

19/06/2012 14467 views 8 likes

Europe soil moisture decrease

Europe’s dry soils seen from space

30/05/2012 3937 views 0 likes

SMOS water mission turns hurricane hunter

10/02/2012 2885 views 1 likes

Laptev Sea ice thickness from SMOS

SMOS versatility offers sea ice mapping

20/12/2011 3075 views 2 likes

Frozen soil

SMOS detects freezing soil as winter takes grip

14/12/2011 2562 views 2 likes

Soil moisture, November 2010 and 2011

SMOS maps Europe’s dry autumn soils

07/12/2011 4534 views 3 likes

Calibration tower, Antarctica

Antarctic ice sheet assures SMOS accuracy

02/12/2011 1650 views 2 likes

Envisat image of the Arctic

Arctic ice nears record low

14/09/2011 2866 views 1 likes

Certificate of Achievement for SMOS team

Enabling & Support

Accolade for water mission technology

22/08/2011 1194 views 0 likes

Horn of Africa drought seen from space

22/07/2011 2154 views 1 likes

SMOS gains clearer view as illegal transmitters shut down

14/06/2011 1991 views 4 likes

Comparison of soil moisture in 2010 and 2011

ESA's water mission keeps tabs on dry spring soils

12/05/2011 1366 views 1 likes

Fòrum Marítim Català

World race yields salinity data for ESA's SMOS mission

18/02/2011 1403 views 0 likes

Satellite data to improve flood forecasting

26/01/2011 3957 views 5 likes

Mean dynamic topography of global ocean

ESA missions highlighted at world's largest scientific conf…

17/12/2010 2079 views 1 likes

SMOS in orbit

ESA's SMOS water mission celebrates first year in orbit

02/11/2010 2654 views 0 likes

Spain almost free of radio interference

SMOS water mission winning battle with interference

06/10/2010 4418 views 4 likes

Water mission reveals insight into Amazon plume

03/09/2010 2226 views 0 likes

SMOS shines at symposium

30/06/2010 1724 views 0 likes

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