A model-based determination of soil moisture trends in Spain with the ERS-scatterometer

Author

Woodhouse, Iain H. ; Hoekman, Dirk H.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Geogr., Edinburgh Univ., UK

Volume

38

Issue

4

fYear

2000

fDate

7/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1783

Lastpage

1793

Abstract

The ERS-1 Wind Scatterometer (WSC) has a resolution cell of about 50 km but provides a high repetition rate (<4 days) and makes measurements at multiple incidence angles. In this study, a mixed target modeling approach is applied to WSC data to estimate effective surface reflectivity (related to soil moisture content) at four test locations in Spain. The model represents the footprint area as a combination of part dense, homogeneous vegetation, and part bare soil (with homogeneous roughness and dielectric properties). The method is applied to WSC data over the period 1992-95, and results are compared to measurements of total monthly precipitation. The results illustrate the applicability of WSC data for measuring soil moisture content-related parameters and offers a physically-based alternative to empirical methods for monitoring trends in surface soil moisture content

Keywords

hydrological techniques; hydrology; remote sensing by radar; soil; spaceborne radar; terrain mapping; AD 1992; AD 1993; AD 1994; AD 1995; ERS-1; ERS-scatterometer; Spain; effective surface reflectivity; hydrology; measurement technique; mixed target model; model-based determination; monthly precipitation; multiple incidence angle; radar remote sensing; soil moisture; spaceborne radar; temporal variation; trend; Dielectric measurements; Moisture measurement; Radar measurements; Reflectivity; Rough surfaces; Soil measurements; Soil moisture; Surface roughness; Testing; Vegetation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.851762

Filename

851762