A long term global daily soil moisture dataset derived from AMSR-E and AMSR2 (2002–2019)

Long term surface soil moisture (SSM) data with stable and consistent quality are critical for global environment and climate change monitoring. L band radiometers onboard the recently launched Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission can provide the state-of-the-art accuracy SSM, while Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) and AMSR2 series provide long term observational records of multi-frequency radiometers (C, X, and K bands). This study transfers the merits of SMAP to AMSR-E/2, and develops a global daily SSM dataset (named as NNsm) with stable and consistent quality at a 36 km resolution (2002–2019). The NNsm can reproduce the SMAP SSM accurately, with a global Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.029 m 3 /m 3 . NNsm also compares well with in situ SSM observations, and outperforms AMSR-E/2 standard SSM products from JAXA and LPRM. This global observation-driven dataset spans nearly two decades at present, and is extendable through the ongoing AMSR2 and upcoming AMSR3 missions for long-term studies of climate extremes, trends, and decadal variability. Measurement(s) wetness of soil • surface soil Technology Type(s) microwave spectroscopy • satellite imaging Factor Type(s) temporal resolution • spatial resolution Sample Characteristic - Environment planetary surface Sample Characteristic - Location global Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14533554