Estimation of spatial and temporal evolution of vegetation and surface moisture from ERS2 radar in a semi-arid region

Author

Zribi, M. ; Le Hégarat-Mascle, S. ; Taconet, O. ; Vidal-Madjar, D. ; Boussema, M.R. ; Belhadj, Z.

Author_Institution

CETP, Velizy, France

Volume

5

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

2109

Abstract

In this paper, a simple model is proposed for retrieving the vegetation cover over soil surfaces from radar signals acquired in semi-arid regions. In Tunisia, vegetation is characterized by the presence of clumps which partially cover the soil surface. The proposed model describes the relationship between the percentage of covered surface and the measured radar signal. Model simulations compared with actual ERS2 radar data show a very good agreement. A map of the whole studied site (in Tunisia) is then derived combining classification approach and previous modeling

Keywords

geophysical techniques; hydrological techniques; radar theory; remote sensing by radar; soil; spaceborne radar; terrain mapping; vegetation mapping; 13.6 GHz; ERS-2; ERS2; SHF; Tunisia; clump; covered surface; geophysical measurement technique; hydrology; model; radar altimetry method; radar remote sensing; semi-arid region; simulation; soil moisture; spaceborne radar; spatial distribution; temporal evolution; terrain mapping; vegetation cover; vegetation mapping; Monitoring; Optical sensors; Radar measurements; Rough surfaces; Soil measurements; Soil moisture; Spaceborne radar; Surface roughness; Testing; Vegetation mapping;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2001. IGARSS '01. IEEE 2001 International

Conference_Location

Sydney, NSW

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7031-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.2001.977919

Filename

977919