Analysis of C-Band Scatterometer Moisture Estimations Derived Over a Semiarid Region

Spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture strongly affect flooding, erosion, solute transport, and vegetation productivity. Their characterization offers numerous possibilities for the improvement of our understanding of complex land-surface-atmosphere interactions. In this paper, soil moisture dynamics at the soil´s surface (the first centimeters) and in its root zone (at depths down to 1 m) are investigated using 25 × 25 km² scale data (Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT)/METorological OPerational (METOP) scatterometer), for a semiarid region in North Africa. Our study highlights the quality of the surface and root-zone soil moisture products, derived from ASCAT data recorded over a two-year period. Surface soil moisture tends to be highly variable because it is strongly influenced by atmospheric conditions (rain and evaporation). On the other hand, root-zone moisture is considerably less variable. A statistical drought-monitoring index, referred to as the “moisture anomaly index,” is derived from ASCAT and European Remote Sensing (ERS) time series. This index was tested with ERS and ASCAT products during the 1991-2010 study period. A strong correlation is found between the proposed index and the standardized precipitation index.