The 7th SMOS Workshop focused on the preparation of the SMOS commissioning phase and related calibration and validation activities.

Following the successful testing of the MIRAS instrument the SMOS platform and payload were merged for final assembly, integration and test activities to form the full SMOS satellite. Most of the efforts were directed towards the development of the ground segment and calibration and validation and commissioning phase activities. These efforts were discussed in synergy with ongoing work on NASA's Aquarius (retrieval algorithms, calibration and validation) and other missions (ASCAT, AMSR-E etc), as well as the use of relevant auxiliary data - in view of paving the way for the future steps.

The various topics were introduced by oral presentations, providing "fuel" for the discussions: in dedicated sessions, during the breaks and around the posters session, covering a large variety of SMOS activities.

The workshop aimed to:

• Foster discussions between the science community and the project management;
• Provide an update on the status of the development of the SMOS mission;
• Provide an overview on the plans with regard to the development of the ground segment, calibration and validations activities, plans for the commissioning phase etc;
• Open a forum for discussion on the results and potential improvements for the scheduled science activities;
• Link the efforts and studies related to the SMOS mission to similar projects, such as Aquarius etc.

See workshop presentations and posters