To examine the utility of using satellite passive microwave observations to measure soil moisture over large regions, we conducted a pilot study using the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) on Nimbus-7, which operated from 1978 to 1987, and actual in situ soil moisture observations from the state of Illinois, United States, which began in 1981. We examined SMMR midnight microwave brightness temperatures on a 0.5¿¿0.5¿ grid, and compared them with direct soil moisture measurements at 14 sites in Illinois for the period 1982--1987. The results suggest that both the polarization difference and the microwave emissivity for horizontal polarization at frequencies ≤18 GHz have real utility for use as a soil moisture information source in regions with grass or crops where the vegetation is not too dense. While SMMR observations ended in 1987, special sensor microwave/imager observations at 19 GHz start then and extend to the present, and advanced microwave scanning radiometer instruments will fly on satellites beginning soon. Together with SMMR, they have the potential to produce a soil moisture record over large regions for more than two decades and extend it into the future. Satellite observations from these low-resolution satellite instruments measure the component of large-scale long-term soil moisture variability that is related to atmospheric forcing (from precipitation, evapotranspiration, and snowmelt). ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union