# Missing data in gridded satellite soil moisture product in early 2000s

**URL:** <https://forum.ecmwf.int/t/missing-data-in-gridded-satellite-soil-moisture-product-in-early-2000s/818>\
**Category:** C3S - Datasets and Usage\
**Tags:** c3s, ecv\_hydrology, ecv\
**Created:** [24 January 2022 12:40 UTC](https://forum.ecmwf.int/t/missing-data-in-gridded-satellite-soil-moisture-product-in-early-2000s/818 "2022-01-24T12:40:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mark\_Pickering](https://forum.ecmwf.int/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mark\_Pickering](https://forum.ecmwf.int/u/Mark_Pickering)\
**Post date:** [24 January 2022 12:40 UTC](https://forum.ecmwf.int/t/missing-data-in-gridded-satellite-soil-moisture-product-in-early-2000s/818/1 "2022-01-24T12:40:36Z")

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During a recent meeting with some members of ECMWF,&nbsp; I brought up the issue of missing large amounts of missing data in the gridded satellite soil moisture product. As discussed, I therefore submit a ticket showing this.

This is particularly the case in 2003. I attach a (very basic screenshot) png showing soil moisture for August 2002-2013 (left→right, top-\>bottom). This is for combined passive and active data.

The documentation mentions:

[https://datastore.copernicus-climate.eu/documents/satellite-soil-moisture/C3S\_312b\_Lot4.D3.SM.5-v3.0\_202101\_Product\_User\_Guide\_Specification\_i1.0.pdf](https://priv-lu-myremote.tech.ec.europa.eu/documents/satellite-soil-moisture/,DanaInfo=.adbvdwyuymImz1r52ytA.Sx75-zH5b7M,SSL+C3S_312b_Lot4.D3.SM.5-v3.0_202101_Product_User_Guide_Specification_i1.0.pdf)

> Based on the sensitivity to vegetation density, we decided for each pixel whether to use either   
> the scatterometer or the radiometer retrievals, or to use a weighted average of the available   
> observations from different sensors. This merging scheme may lead to data gaps in the   
> following situations:   
> o No observation is available (sensors fail). This is for example the case between 2001   
> and 2006 in Western Europe, parts of Siberia, parts of North and South America, due   
> to failure of the onboard storage capacity of ERS-2.

I therefore draw it to attention here, as it is a challenge to use this data. I hope this is helpful.

 ![](https://forum.ecmwf.int/uploads/default/original/1X/1d06e5e0ef973307c4f2cb13dd58397737c0eb93.png)