Comparison of soil dielectric mixing models for soil moisture retrieval using SMAP brightness temperature over croplands in India

•Comprehensive evaluation of different soil dielectric mixing models were performed over croplands in India.•First time assessment of soil moisture retrieval algorithm and testing in India using in situ soil moisture network.•Analysis indicates that Mironov model is performing better than other models in India.•Overall analysis indicates that the optimization of local factors is vital for improved SM retrieval.