Soil Moisture Active/Passive Field Campaign 2012 (SMAPVEx): Carmen-Portage la Prairie A Partnership between Agriculture Canada, NASA, US Department of Agriculture, University of Manitoba, University of Guelph, Sherbrooke University, Environment Canada, University of Michigan The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently developing and building a the Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) satellite. This satellite will measure surface soil moisture and temperature and record time of soil freezing and thawing using microwave technology. The satellite data will be used to produce regular maps of soil moisture, temperature and freeze/thaw that will be used to monitor surface soil moisture conditions that impact agricultural production and inform models used to predict crop yields. The satellite is expected to be launched in Artist’s view of SMAP satellite As part of the preparation for the SMAP mission, a series of field campaigns are being conducted globally to test the methods that will be used to derive information from the satellite. In 2012, one such campaign will be conducted in the Carmen-Elm Creek area of Manitoba to assess methods to measure soil moisture during an agricultural growing season. The site was chosen due to the existing soil moisture monitoring stations that have been installed on private farms in the region over the past growing season, and is expected to serve as a long-term site for assessing the satellite data post- launch. The campaign will run from June 6 th to July 17 th During this campaign, NASA will conduct flights carrying instruments similar to the SMAP satellite several times per week over the selected study area covering forested and agricultural land. During these flights, scientists will be making measurements in selected fields of soil moisture, plant biomass and surface roughness. Small teams of 2-3 people will walk through fields on a daily basis to measure soil moisture and temperature, with weekly harvesting of small amounts of biomass on each field over the 6 week campaign. In some fields, temporary unmanned soil moisture monitoring stations will be installed over the summer to provide continuous measurements. Compensation will be provided to participating land owners to cover the removal of crop and damage to plants during sampling. The participation of producers in the area is critical to the success of this campaign, and ultimately to the success of the satellite mission. NASA instruments will be flown several times per week on the Gulfstream III piloted aircraft over the study site. The flights will cover an area with a mix of agricultural and forested land in the Portage La Prairie- Carmen Region (see map top left)

Information for Land Owner Participants in SMAPVEx Field Campaign When: Field experiment will take place from June 6 th to July 17 th. Some access will be required before and after the campaign for supplemental measurements What: During the field campaign, flights will be made several times per week using NASA instruments. Scientists will collect measurements to coincide with flights: –Soil moisture and temperature 3 times per week per field using hand held instruments over the length of each field –Vegetation biomass once per week per field: 3 areas of 0.5 by 0.5 m will be harvested and removed from several locations in the field for 6 weeks –Surface Roughness: 2-3 times over the field campaign –Other measurements: teams will be measuring plant architecture, plant phenology, plant spectral properties and leaf area index using handheld instruments –Un-manned Soil Moisture: some temporary stations will be placed in fields to collect continuous soil moisture measurements, with probes buried at depths up to 20cm, and solar panels on a stand above the canopy to power the equipment Impact: Some damage will be made to crops while scientists are walking from site to site to make measurements. Maximum total damage from harvesting and walking through fields will be <0.3 ha per field. Compensation will be provided to land owners to offset this damage. How: staff from Agriculture Canada in Winnipeg will be contacting land owners to seek their participation in this campaign. Participating land owners will need to sign a contract to permit access to named fields, and will provide invoices to Agriculture Canada for agreed upon financial compensation Examples of measurement equipment that will be used during the field campaign: hand-held soil moisture devices (top, middle right); surface roughness board (bottom right); crop scan (top left); leaf area index (middle left); unmanned soil moisture station (bottom left)

For producers with the temporary USDA stand alone probes The temporary network will provide a short term quality check for the longer term network developed by Agrifood Canada in the Brunkild subwatershed of the Red River Watershed. These temporary network stations consist of a small probe installed at a depth of 5 cm from the surface which will estimate the soil moisture and soil temperature on an hourly time interval. A data logger will record the time series and it is powered by a small solar panel. These instruments have been deployed in the Boreal Forests of Saskatchewan as well as agricultural fields of Oklahoma and Iowa in the U.S. The temporary station is weather-proof and takes up approximately 1 square foot of space and will not damage or inhibit crop growth. The solar panel will be installed on the top of a 4-5’ pole so that it will be above the crop canopy in the field in which it is installed.