Cleaner SMOS results

The two images show monthly averaged brightness temperatures, which corresponds to microwave radiation from Earth’s surface, at northern latitudes for May 2011 and May 2012. In May 2011, before 13 sources of radio frequency interference (RFI) in Canada and Greenland were either refurbished or switched off, a circle of higher brightness temperatures can be seen, exceeding the expectations for natural variations of such measurements in the northern latitudes over ocean. Once the RFI sources were switched off (prior to May 2012), natural variability returns. Higher brightness temperature measurements, being the starting point for salinity retrievals, lead to erroneously fresher water in the oceans.