Soil moisture and dielectric constant measurements of organic soils in the higher northern latitudes in support of the SMOS mission

The SMOSHiLat project aims at increasing our insufficient understanding of L-band (1.4 GHz) emission behaviour of organic soils in the higher northern latitudes in order to support soil moisture product generation from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite over these regions. Evaluation of two soil moisture sensors (Decagon 5TE and Delta-T ThetaProbe) for organic horizons and L-band dielectric constant measurements are being carried out on samples collected in Denmark, Finland, Scotland and Siberia. Here, focus is on the presentation of the material, applied methods and first results that show consistent trends, in agreement with other studies using TDR sensors. The observed dielectric constants of the organic substrate at a given water content are decreased compared to sandy mineral soils due to high water binding capabilities of the former. The current ongoing data analyses including the derivation of organic calibration functions shall be presented at the symposium.