On the Detection and Quantification of RFI in L1a Signals Provided by SMOS

The SMOS mission is a European Space Agency project aimed at global monitoring of surface Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity from radiometric L-band observations. This paper is concerned with the contamination of the data collected by SMOS by radio-frequency interferences (RFIs) which degrade the performance of the mission. RFI events are evidenced on both reference radiometer measurements and interferometric ones. It is explained why well-known standard RFI detection methods cannot be used. A specific method for the SMOS mission is presented and illustrated with data acquired during the commissioning phase.