Effects of variation in soil moisture on ERS-1 SAR backscatter

Author

Wang, Yong ; Davis, Frank W. ; Kasischke, Eric S.

Author_Institution

Center for Remote Sensing & Environ. Opt., California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Volume

3

fYear

1994

fDate

8-12 Aug 1994

Firstpage

1475

Abstract

Under wet soil conditions, the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter from open short-grass fields of 0.05 kg/m² biomass is equal to or greater than that from the loblolly pine stands (<15 years-old) at Duke Forest, North Carolina, USA. Under dry soil conditions, the backscatter increased about 2-3 dB as the biomass increased from 0.05 kg/m² to 0.5-1.5 kg/m², and the backscatter may be saturated near a 0.5-1.5 kg/m² biomass level. Signal saturation at low standing biomass and high sensitivity to soil moisture conditions limit the value of the ERS-1 SAR for forest monitoring

Keywords

backscatter; forestry; geophysical techniques; microwave imaging; radar applications; radar cross-sections; radar imaging; remote sensing by radar; spaceborne radar; synthetic aperture radar; Duke Forest; ERS-1; European Remote Sensing Satellite; North Carolina; Pinus taeda; SAR method; United States USA; backscatter; biomass; forest forestry; geophysical measurement technique; grass field; loblolly pine; microwave SHF; radar imaging accuracy; radar remote sensing; radar scattering; signal saturation; soil moisture; synthetic aperture radar; vegetation mapping; wet soil conditions; Adaptive optics; Backscatter; Biomass; Biomedical optical imaging; Optical saturation; Optical sensors; Remote sensing; Satellites; Soil moisture; Synthetic aperture radar;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1994. IGARSS '94. Surface and Atmospheric Remote Sensing: Technologies, Data Analysis and Interpretation., International

Conference_Location

Pasadena, CA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1497-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.1994.399473

Filename

399473