The Soil Moisture Active Passive mission is NASA’s firstEarth-observing satellite mission designed to collectglobal observations of surface soil moisture and itsfreeze/thaw state, data that have broad applications forscience and society. High-resolution space-based measurementsof soil moisture and whether the soil is frozenor thawed will give scientists a new capability to observeand predict natural hazards of extreme weather, climatechange, floods and droughts, and will help reduce uncertaintiesin our understanding of Earth’s water, energyand carbon cycles.
Soil Moisture Active Passive Launch
PRESS KIT/JANUARY 2015
SMAP Artist’s Concept
Media Contacts
Steve Cole Policy/Program 202-358-0918
Headquarters, Management stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov
Washington 202-657-2194 (cell)
Alan Buis Soil Moisture 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Active Passive Mission alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov
Pasadena, Calif.
Rani Gran Radiometer, GSFC Role 301-286-2483
Goddard Space Flight Center rani.c.gran@nasa.gov
Greenbelt, Maryland
Jessica Rye Launch Vehicle 321-730-5646
United Launch Alliance jessica.f.rye@ulalaunch.com
Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Florida
George Diller Launch Operations 321-867-2468
Kennedy Space Center, george.h.diller@nasa.gov
Florida
Contents
Media Services Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Quick Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mission Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Why Study Soil Moisture? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Applications Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Science Goals and Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Science Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Program/Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .