Active microwave soil moisture sensing under vegetation cover

Peter A. Troch; Zhongbo Su; P. Colombo; Federico De Masi

doi:10.1117/12.264257

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17 January 1997 Active microwave soil moisture sensing under vegetation cover

Peter A. Troch, Zhongbo Su, P. Colombo, Federico De Masi

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Proceedings Volume 2959, Remote Sensing of Vegetation and Sea; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.264257
Event: Satellite Remote Sensing III, 1996, Taormina, Italy

Abstract

Our understanding of the derivation of soil moisture content from observing the interaction between electromagnetic waves and bare soil on the one hand, and vegetated terrain on the other has developed at different rates. The retrieval of soil moisture from radar measurements for bare surfaces is possible by means of inversion algorithms based on theoretical surface scattering models. The interaction between electromagnetic waves and vegetated terrain involves both surface and volume scattering. The development of theoretical models for vegetated terrain is therefore extremely difficult. One such attempt was initiated by Lang and resulted in the development of a backscattering model following the wave approach. We use this model to investigate the effect of different crop parameters on the radar signal. This results in the definition of the conditions under which retrieval of soil moisture is still possible. These conditions are expressed both in terms of vegetation parameters and antenna configuration.

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Peter A. Troch, Zhongbo Su, P. Colombo, and Federico De Masi "Active microwave soil moisture sensing under vegetation cover", Proc. SPIE 2959, Remote Sensing of Vegetation and Sea, (17 January 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.264257

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