Estimation of soil moisture using data from advanced microwave scanning radiometer

Soil moisture is an important variable controlling biogeochemical cycles, heat exchange and infiltration rates at land/atmosphere boundary. The microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum have been used to monitor the moisture content of soils due to the sensitivity of microwave brightness temperatures to land surface variables. In this paper, the simulation of the C-band brightness temperatures are carried out for the SMEX02 (Soil Moisture Experiments 2002) regions in Ames, Iowa for the time period between June 25 to July 31, 2002. The simulated brightness temperatures have been compared with the corresponding observations using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR).