The SMOS remote sensing mission was launched on the 2. of  November in 2009 is part of the opportunity missions of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer programme. The project office role was to inform the scientific community and the public about the current mission status as well as to promote the use of the SMOS data products within Germany. After the successful launch of the satellite and the commissioning phase it is time for checking and optimizing the data. This is done at the Institute of Oceanography (IfM) of the University of Hamburg by participating in calibration and validation studies for the SMOS instrument. Furthermore, in pilot  modelling studies these data will be assimilated.

The project office is located in the IfM and is funded by the German ministry of economy and technology (BMWI) via the German aerospace agency DLR (50 EE 09 34).

SMOS Launch on the 2 of November in 2009 - Launchvideo