Sensitivity of X-band SAR data to crop status: PEA and carrot cases

This study aims at presenting the results of a correlation analysis between the COSMO-SkyMed X-band backscattering coefficients (σ⁰) at VV and VH polarization and the DEIMOS-based Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), carried out over carrot and pea fields. The analysis shows a significant higher correlation at VH (R=0.70 and R=0.65 resp.) than at VV polarization (R=0.15and R=0.32 resp.) for both the crop species analyzed. The results seem to suggest the possibility of using SAR X-Band VH data for crop status monitoring, at least for carrot and pea fields.