Monitoring of rice crop growth from space using the ERS-1 C-band SAR

This communication presents preliminary results of the first attempt to monitor rice crop growth from space from transplanting to harvesting with an active microwave instrument using ERS-1 C-band SAR. The variation of σ⁰ for a test rice field in the Akita Prefectural College of Agriculture obtained from multitemporal SAR data is evaluated by comparing with ground truth data of the rice crop condition. The feasibility is shown of estimating the number of days after transplanting and hence the rice crop growth stage from the σ⁰ measurement. Correlation analysis suggests a close relationship between σ⁰ and the two dimensional extent of the rice crops