AirMOSS: L1 S-0 Polarimetric Data from AirMOSS P-band SAR, Howland Forest, 2012-2015

This data set provides level 1 (L1) polarimetric radar backscattering coefficient (sigma-0), multilook complex, polarimetrically calibrated, and georeferenced data products from the Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) radar instrument collected over the Howland Forest site in Maine. The AirMOSS radar is a P-band (UHF) fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) currently operating in the 420-440 MHz band designed to measure root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) and is flown on a NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft. Flight campaigns took place at least biannually from 2012 to 2015 at 10 study sites across North America. The acquired L1 P-band radar backscatter data will be used to retrieve the RZSM at the study sites. Subsequent analyses will investigate both seasonal and inter-annual variability in soil moisture and the relationships to carbon fluxes and their associated uncertainties on a continental scale.