Corn growth as monitored by radar

Results of an experiment to determine the feasibility of monitoring corn growth with radar are reported. Radar backscattering data were acquired with a ground based 8-18 GHz radar spectrometer during the summer of 1974. Supporting ground truth data were also collected. During the month of July the crop suffered from a water deficit, although by no means was the crop destroyed by this lack of moisture. At angles of incidence of or greater, the results of the data analysis indicate a strong correlation between the radar backscattering coefficient and the "normalized plant water content" , where is the mass of water in the corn plant divided by its height. The correlation coefficient between and , which was calculated for each of 176 different combinations of the radar parameters (signal frequency, angle of incidence and polarization), was highest (0.96) at 17.0 GHz, VV polarization. Considering the fact that the data used covered a period of four months during which the corn plants underwent considerable change in geometry and dielectric properties, the high correlation of 0.96 between and points to a promising future for radar as a tool for monitoring corn development.