IGF::CT::IGF SUPPORTS NASA ARMDS STRATEGIC, ARCHITECTURE, AND ANALYSIS' STRATEGIC RISK MANAGEMENT. THIS TASK ALSO SUPPORTS THE ARMD PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS TASK, BY PROVIDING MISSION DIRECTORATE AND CROSS PROGRAM RISK ASSESSMENTS AS WELL AS COST ANALYSIS SUPPORT. RESEARCH EFFORT ENTAILS: IT IS PROPOSED TO LEVERAGE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE AQUARIUS SCIENCE TEAM TO RETRIEVE SEA SURFACE SALINITY FROM THE SMAP MEASUREMENTS OVER THE OCEAN. THE APPROACH IS TO ADAPT THE AQUARIUS ALGORITHMS TO THE SMAP INSTRUMENT FOR SALINITY RETRIEVAL OVER THE OCEAN, OPTIMIZING THE COMMONALITY BETWEEN THEM, AND ACCOMMODATING THE UNIQUE CONFIGURATION DIFFERENCES. SOME OF THE ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED ARE THE CONICAL SCAN AND SMALLER INTEGRATION TIME PER PIXEL FOR SMAP AND POSSIBLE ISSUES WITH THE MESH ANTENNA AND CHANGING ASPECT WITH RESPECT TO THE SUN AND GALAXY. PRELIMINARY STUDIES INDICATE THAT A SCIENTIFICALLY CREDIBLE SALINITY DATA SET CAN BE PRODUCED. THE SMAP PROJECT CURRENTLY HAS NO REQUIREMENT TO PRODUCE OCEAN SALINITY RETRIEVALS AND THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL USE STANDARD SMAP LEVEL 1 SENSOR DATA AS A BASIS FOR COMPUTING LEVEL 2 AND 3 SALINITY DATA. THE WORK WILL BE DIRECTED BY SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE AQUARIUS SCIENCE ALGORITHM TEAM WHO HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AQUARIUS RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM. THE IMPLEMENTATION WILL LEVERAGE THE SYNERGY WITH THE EXISTING AQUARIUS PROJECT FULLEST EXTENT, EMPHASIZING THE SEAMLESSNESS BETWEEN THE SALINITY DATA FROM THE TWO SENSORS, AND MAKE FULL USE OF THEIR PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MEASUREMENTS. THIS WILL INCLUDE INTER-CALIBRATION BETWEEN THE AQUARIUS PRODUCT AND SMAP SALINITY PRODUCT DURING THE PERIOD WHEN THE TWO MISSIONS OVERLAP AS WELL AS USE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE OF EXISTING AQUARIUS CODE AND DATA PROCESSING RESOURCES. ADVANTAGES OF THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SMAP (E.G. HIGHER SPATIAL RESOLUTION) WILL ALSO BE INCLUDED. DATA PRODUCTS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED VIA PO.DAAC, AS IS CURRENTLY DONE WITH AQUARIUS.