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Title: SIR-C/X-SAR AS A BRIDGE TO SOIL MOISITURE ESTIMATION USING CURRENT AND FUTURE OPERATIONAL SATELLITE RADARS

Author
item Jackson, Thomas
item TANG, LANGLI - CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCI
item WOOD, ERIC - PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
item HSU, ANN - SSAI CORP
item O'NEILL, PEGGY - NASA
item ENGMAN, EDWIN - NASA

Submitted to: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/22/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: None

Technical Abstract: The Shuttle Imaging Radar experiments in 1994 (SIR-C/X-SAR) involved simultaneous data acquisition of a variety of frequencies and polarizations that included those of all existing and near future satellite SAR systems. As part of SIR-C/X-SAR, a soil moisture experiment was conducted in the Little Washita watershed located in Oklahoma. Hydrologic conditions during the April mission were nearly ideal, starting mostly with wet soil conditions with no additional rain for the duration of the mission. A data set of georegistered SIR-C and X-SAR data sets and ground observations has been prepared for distribution. Daily changes in incidence angle were normalized using published results for various land cover types. These normalized data were then related to soil moisture for satellite configurations representative of ERS-1 and 2, Radarsat, JERS-1, and other planned missions. Initial results show that for rangeland regions the empirical angular correction performs well and that some single frequency-polarization combinations can be used for estimating soil moisture if additional land cover/vegetation factors are considered.