Spatial Correlation Structures in SMAP Near-Surface Soil Moisture (How Spatially Correlated are the Temporal Variations of Soil Moisture at Different Locations? and Why Is This of Interest?)

Abstract: Spatial correlation structures can describe the degree to which soil moisture at a specified location co-varies in time with that at other, remote locations. Using four years of warm season SMAP Level 2 near-surface soil moisture data, we compute these spatial correlation structures for points across North America. The character of these structures is seen to differ geographically; the structures found for the west-central US, for example, are significantly more spatially extensive. We then d…