MIRAS Temporal Stability

Temporal stability of the radiometer MIRAS, on board the SMOS satellite, is analyzed using long series of data spanning for about 6 years. Brightness temperature retrieved from one orbit per day over the Pacific Ocean is compared against a forward model and the difference between both is analyzed. Plots of the average in central latitudes as a function of time show small seasonal ripples (∼±0.5 K) that depend on the calibration strategy chosen. An extremely low drift of only several mK/year is found and in some cases disappears. Hovmoller plots for the same data, consisting of brightness temperature biases as a function of latitude and time, confirm the small ripples and show some latitude dependent structures, probably coming from geophysical signatures.