Soil moisture retrieval under agricultural vegetation using fully polarimetric SAR

Soil moisture retrieval under agricultural vegetation is assessed by a hybrid decomposition and inversion algorithm using fully polarimetric SAR data of DLR´s E-SAR system at L-band. The results for the AgriSAR and SARTEO campaigns, conducted in 2006 and 2008 within the Peene and the Rur catchment, reveal a very high inversion rate leading to a spatially continuous inversion along the entire growth cycle in agricultural areas. The validation with in situ measurements for a variety of summer and winter crops states a root mean square error of 6.25vol.% and 5.77vol.% respectively, while a wide moisture range (~2-30vol.%) is covered by the soil moisture inversion under vegetation.