Fundamental remote sensing science research program. Part 1: Scene radiation and atmospheric effects characterization project

Brief articles summarizing the status of research in the scene radiation and atmospheric effect characterization (SRAEC) project are presented. Research conducted within the SRAEC program is focused on the development of empirical characterizations and mathematical process models which relate the electromagnetic energy reflected or emitted from a scene to the biophysical parameters of interest

Basic studies in microwave remote sensing

Scattering models were developed in support of microwave remote sensing of earth terrains with particular emphasis on model applications to airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar measurements of forest. Practically useful surface scattering models based on a solution of a pair of integral equations including multiple scattering effects were developed. Comparisons of these models with controlled scattering measurements from statistically known random surfaces indicate that they are valid over a wide range of frequencies. Scattering models treating a forest environment as a two and three layered media were also developed. Extensive testing and comparisons were carried out with the two layered model. Further studies with the three layered model are being carried out. A volume scattering model valid for dense media such as a snow layer was also developed that shows the appropriate trend dependence with the volume fraction of scatterers

Characterization of vegetation by microwave and optical remote sensing

Two series of carefully controlled experiments were conducted. First, plots of important crops (corn, soybeans, and sorghum), prairie grasses (big bluestem, switchgrass, tal fescue, orchardgrass, bromegrass), and forage legumes (alfalfa, red clover, and crown vetch) were manipulated to produce wide ranges of phytomass, leaf area index, and canopy architecture. Second, coniferous forest canopies were simulated using small balsam fir trees grown in large pots of soil and arranged systematically on a large (5 m) platform. Rotating the platform produced many new canopies for frequency and spatial averaging of the backscatter signal. In both series of experiments, backscatter of 5.0 GHz (C-Band) was measured as a function of view angle and polarization. Biophysical measurements included leaf area index, fresh and dry phytomass, water content of canopy elements, canopy height, and soil roughness and moisture content. For a subset of the above plots, additional measurements were acquired to exercise microwave backscatter models. These measurements included size and shape of leaves, stems, and fruit and the probability density function of leaf and stem angles. The relationships of the backscattering coefficients and the biophysical properties of the canopies were evaluated using statistical correlations, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. Results from the corn density and balsam fir experiments are discussed and analyses of data from the other experiments are summarized

Botswana water and surface energy balance research program. Part 1: Integrated approach and field campaign results

The Botswana water and surface energy balance research program was developed to study and evaluate the integrated use of multispectral satellite remote sensing for monitoring the hydrological status of the Earth's surface. Results of the first part of the program (Botswana 1) which ran from 1 Jan. 1988 - 31 Dec. 1990 are summarized. Botswana 1 consisted of two major, mutually related components: a surface energy balance modeling component, built around an extensive field campaign; and a passive microwave research component which consisted of a retrospective study of large scale moisture conditions and Nimbus scanning multichannel microwave radiometer microwave signatures. The integrated approach of both components in general are described and activities performed during the surface energy modeling component including the extensive field campaign are summarized. The results of the passive microwave component are summarized. The key of the field campaign was a multilevel approach, whereby measurements by various similar sensors were made at several altitudes and resolution. Data collection was performed at two adjacent sites of contrasting surface character. The following measurements were made: micrometeorological measurements, surface temperatures, soil temperatures, soil moisture, vegetation (leaf area index and biomass), satellite data, aircraft data, atmospheric soundings, stomatal resistance, and surface emissivity

Assessment of the biophysical characteristics of rangeland community using scatterometer and optical measurements

Research activities for the following study areas are summarized: single scattering of parallel direct and axially symmetric diffuse solar radiation in vegetative canopies; the use of successive orders of scattering approximations (SOSA) for treating multiple scattering in a plant canopy; reflectance of a soybean canopy using the SOSA method; and C-band scatterometer measurements of the Konza tallgrass prairie

Using the space-borne NASA scatterometer (NSCAT) to determine the frozen and thawed seasons

We hypothesize that the strong sensitivity of radar backscatter to surface dielectric properties, and hence to the phase (solid or liquid) of any water near the surface should make space-borne radar observations a powerful tool for large-scale spatial monitoring of the freeze/thaw state of the land surface, and thus ecosystem growing season length. We analyzed the NASA scatterometer (NSCAT) backscatter from September 1996 to June 1997, along with temperature and snow depth observations and ecosystem modeling, for three BOREAS sites in central Canada. Because of its short wavelength (2.14 cm), NSCAT was sensitive to canopy and surface water. NSCAT had 25 km spatial resolution and approximately twice-daily temporal coverage at the BOREAS latitude. At the northern site the NSCAT signal showed strong seasonality, with backscatter around −8 dB in winter and −12 dB in early summer and fall. The NSCAT signal for the southern sites had less seasonality. At all three sites there was a strong decrease in backscatter during spring thaw (4–6 dB). At the southern deciduous site, NSCAT backscatter rose from −11 to −9.2 dB during spring leaf-out. All sites showed 1–2 dB backscatter shifts corresponding to changes in landscape water state coincident with brief midwinter thaws, snowfall, and extreme cold (Tmax\u3c−25°C). Freeze/thaw detection algorithms developed for other radar instruments gave reasonable results for the northern site but were not successful at the two southern sites. We developed a change detection algorithm based on first differences of 5-day smoothed NSCAT backscatter measurements. This algorithm had some success in identifying the arrival of freezing conditions in the autumn and the beginning of thaw in the spring. Changes in surface freeze/thaw state generally coincided with the arrival and departure of the seasonal snow cover and with simulated shifts in the directions of net carbon exchange at each of the study sites

Microwave radiometric studies and ground truth measurements of the NASA/USGS Southern California test site

The field measurement program conducted at the NASA/USGS Southern California Test Site is discussed. Ground truth data and multifrequency microwave brightness data were acquired by a mobile field laboratory operating in conjunction with airborne instruments. The ground based investigations were performed at a number of locales representing a variety of terrains including open desert, cultivated fields, barren fields, portions of the San Andreas Fault Zone, and the Salton Sea. The measurements acquired ground truth data and microwave brightness data at wavelengths of 0.8 cm, 2.2 cm, and 21 cm

A computational model for path loss in wireless sensor networks in orchard environments.

A computational model for radio wave propagation through tree orchards is presented. Trees are modeled as collections of branches, geometrically approximated by cylinders, whose dimensions are determined on the basis of measurements in a cherry orchard. Tree canopies are modeled as dielectric spheres of appropriate size. A single row of trees was modeled by creating copies of a representative tree model positioned on top of a rectangular, lossy dielectric slab that simulated the ground. The complete scattering model, including soil and trees, enhanced by periodicity conditions corresponding to the array, was characterized via a commercial computational software tool for simulating the wave propagation by means of the Finite Element Method. The attenuation of the simulated signal was compared to measurements taken in the cherry orchard, using two ZigBee receiver-transmitter modules. Near the top of the tree canopies (at 3 m), the predicted attenuation was close to the measured one-just slightly underestimated. However, at 1.5 m the solver underestimated the measured attenuation significantly, especially when leaves were present and, as distances grew longer. This suggests that the effects of scattering from neighboring tree rows need to be incorporated into the model. However, complex geometries result in ill conditioned linear systems that affect the solver's convergence

A mathematical characterization of vegetation effect on microwave remote sensing from the Earth

In passive microwave remote sensing of the earth, a theoretical model that utilizes the radiative transfer equations was developed to account for the volume scattering effects of the vegetation canopy. Vegetation canopies such as alfalfa, sorghum, and corn are simulated by a layer of ellipsoidal scatterers and cylindrical structures. The ellipsoidal scatterers represent the leaves of vegetation and are randomly positioned and oriented. The orientation of ellipsoids is characterized by a probability density function of Eulerian angles of rotation. The cylindrical structures represent the stalks of vegetation and their radii are assumed to be much smaller than their lengths. The underlying soil is represented by a half-space medium with a homogeneous permittivity and uniform temperature profile. The radiative transfer quations are solved by a numerical method using a Gaussian quadrature formula to compute both the vertical and horizontal polarized brightness temperature as a function of observation angle. The theory was applied to the interpretation of experimental data obtained from sorghum covered fields near College Station, Texas