Environmental influence on microwave radiometry for buried object detection

Microwave radiometers have been shown to be effective sensors for monitoring soil moisture and other geophysical data. Recent studies have begun to consider the use of microwave radiometers for detecting shallow, sub-surface objects such as anti-personnel landmines. However, previous buried object detection models have neglected variations in medium temperature and soil moisture with depth. Since these factors can significantly impact soil moisture remote sensing, their effect on buried object detection requires consideration as well. A multi-layer horizontally stratified emission model is coupled with it numerical solution of the heat equation and a model for water transport in the presence of a sub-surface object to estimate the importance of temperature and soil moisture variations. Results show that these factors can impact overall brightness temperatures, but that the concept of using oscillatory features in frequency swept data as an indicator of a sub-surface object remains valid.