Recent advances in (soil moisture) triple collocation analysis

•The identity of different triple collocation (TC) notations is shown analytically.•Assumptions underlying TC analysis are discussed in detail.•TC-based signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) metrics are reviewed and compared.•An optimal combination of metrics for soil moisture product evaluation is proposed.

To date, triple collocation (TC) analysis is one of the most important methods for the global-scale evaluation of remotely sensed soil moisture data sets. In this study we review existing implementations of soil moisture TC analysis as well as investigations of the assumptions underlying the method. Different notations that are used to formulate the TC problem are shown to be mathematically identical. While many studies have investigated issues related to possible violations of the underlying assumptions, only few TC modifications have been proposed to mitigate the impact of these violations. Moreover, assumptions, which are often understood as a limitation that is unique to TC analysis are shown to be common also to other conventional performance metrics. Noteworthy advances in TC analysis have been made in the way error estimates are being presented by moving from the investigation of absolute error variance estimates to the investigation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) metrics. Here we review existing error presentations and propose the combined investigation of the SNR (expressed in logarithmic units), the unscaled error variances, and the soil moisture sensitivities of the data sets as an optimal strategy for the evaluation of remotely-sensed soil moisture data sets.