SMAP
SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) launched on January 31, 2015 to map soil moisture and freeze/thaw conditions. Its L-band radiometer supports studies of the water, energy and carbon cycles and applications in drought monitoring, flooding and agriculture. The mission originally combined active radar and passive radiometer observations, but the radar stopped transmitting on July 7, 2015 after a high-power-amplifier anomaly and could not be recovered. Radiometer science continued; later combined-sensor products must be distinguished from observations by SMAP's original radar.
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Identity
- Aliases
- SMAPSoil Moisture Active PassiveSoil Moisture Active-Passive MissionSMAP Mission
- Name
- SMAP
- Status
- active
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) launched on January 31, 2015 to map soil moisture and freeze/thaw conditions. Its L-band radiometer supports studies of the water, energy and carbon cycles and applications in drought monitoring, flooding and agriculture. The mission originally combined active radar and passive radiometer observations, but the radar stopped transmitting on July 7, 2015 after a high-power-amplifier anomaly and could not be recovered. Radiometer science continued; later combined-sensor products must be distinguished from observations by SMAP's original radar.
- Destination
- Near-polar, sun-synchronous Earth orbit at approximately 685 km altitude and 98.1° inclination for mapping global soil moisture and freeze/thaw state to understand water, carbon, and energy cycles and improve weather, climate, flood, and drought prediction
- Launch Site
- Programs
- Start Date
- 2015-01-31
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/smap/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 12:44:37 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 15:13:00 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles