Comparison of gap-filling techniques applied to the CCI soil moisture database in Southern Europe

Abstract Soil moisture (SM) is a key variable that plays an important role in land-atmosphere interactions. Monitoring SM is crucial for many applications and can help to determine the impact of climate change. Therefore, it is essential to have continuous and long-term databases for this variable. Satellite missions have contributed to this; however, the continuity of the series is compromised due to the data gaps derived by different factors, including revisit time, presence of seasonal ice or Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) contamination. In this work, the applicability of different gap-filling techniques is evaluated on the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) SM combined product, whi…