DeRoo, R. and M.C. Dobson
Presented at the All Scientist Meeting (1996-07-16 to 1996-07-17 )
Knowledge of the soil moisture is important to the fields of climate change, agriculture, water resource management, hydrology, and many others. Microwave radar technology has the potential for large scale mapping of soil moisture, and has been proven to be useful for the remote sensing of soil moisture at the surface of bare soils. The techniques necessary to use microwave radars to estimate the soil moisture of soils covered by vegetation has been elusive, however. Theoretical models of the scattering of microwaves by vegetation, or even of bare surfaces, are very complicated and of only limited value.We are undertaking a three-year project to develop empirical models for the extraction of soil moisture from radar images of vegetation covered soils, similar to a previously developed empirical model for bare soils. The measurements, taking place at KBS during the Summer and Fall of 1996, span as wide as possible range of agricultural covers (soybeans, alfalfa, corn and native) over an entire growing period, and as wide as possible range of soil moistures as the weather permits. In addition to the experiment design and methodology, preliminary findings will be discussed.
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