SMAP

Soil Moisture Active Passive

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General

Designation	40376 / 15003A
Launch date	31 Jan 2015
Country of origin	United States
Mission	Remote sensing
Perigee/Apogee	685 km sun-synchronous
Inclination
Period	98.5 min (8-day repeat)
Launch vehicle	Delta 2 #370

Managed by NASA's JPL. Continues work started by SMOS.

Data from SMAP will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models including improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities.

Will study the Earth's top 5 cm. It also will detect and map whether the ground is frozen or thawed. This data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles.

SMAP radar failed on 7 July 2015, not recoverable.

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External resources

http://www.nasa.gov/smap

http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/
sat-index articles

n2yo.com tracking

Technical data

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Specifications

Prime contractor	JPL
Platform
Mass at launch	944 kg
Dry mass
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power
Design lifetime	3 years

SAR L-band antenna is 6m diameter.

Carries 2 main instruments: active radar and a passive radiometer.
1000km swath width

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