Temporal variation of simulated rice backscattering of S-band HJ-1 SAR

Rice is a major food supply in the southeast of China, which is very important for this region´s rapid and sustainable development. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides a powerful tool for rice monitoring in these regions because of its all-weather, day-and-night imaging and canopy penetration capabilities. HJ-1 small satellite constellation of China has been designed for environment and disaster monitoring, and HJ-1-C satellite has a SAR system working in S-band with incidence varying from 31° to 40°, VV polarization. Scattering model is helpful to better understand the temporal behavior of rice backscatter in S-band before HJ-1 SAR satellite is launched. In this paper, Zhaoqing test site in Guangdong province was selected as the test site, and 9-temporal field measurements acquired during the rice growing period in 1997 were used for analysis. Then rice backscattering and seasonal variation in S-band and VV polarization were simulated and analyzed based on radiative transfer model and ground measurements.