Radar measurement of soil moisture content

The effect of soil moisture on the radar backscattering coefficient was investigated by measuring the 4-8 GHz spectral response from two types of bare-soil fields: slightly rough and very rough, in terms of the wavelength. An FM-CW radar system was used to measure the return at 10 frequency points across the 4-8 GHz band, at different look angles, and for all polarization combinations. The results indicate that the radar response to soil moisture content is highly dependent on the surface roughness, microwave frequency, and look angle. The response seems to be linear over the range 15%-30% moisture content for all angles, frequencies, polarizations and surface conditions

Computer simulation of a space SAR using a range-sequential processor for soil moisture mapping

The ability of a spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to detect soil moisture was evaluated by means of a computer simulation technique. The computer simulation package includes coherent processing of the SAR data using a range-sequential processor, which can be set up through hardware implementations, thereby reducing the amount of telemetry involved. With such a processing approach, it is possible to monitor the earth's surface on a continuous basis, since data storage requirements can be easily met through the use of currently available technology. The Development of the simulation package is described, followed by an examination of the application of the technique to actual environments. The results indicate that in estimating soil moisture content with a four-look processor, the difference between the assumed and estimated values of soil moisture is within + or - 20% of field capacity for 62% of the pixels for agricultural terrain and for 53% of the pixels for hilly terrain. The estimation accuracy for soil moisture may be improved by reducing the effect of fading through non-coherent averaging

Radar return from a continuous vegetation canopy

The radar backscatter coefficient, sigma deg, of alfalfa was investigated as a function of both radar parameters and the physical characteristics of the alfalfa canopy. Measurements were acquired with an 8-18 GHz FM-CW mobile radar over an angular range of 0 - 70 deg as measured from nadir. The experimental data indicates that the excursions of sigma deg at nadir cover a range of nearly 18 dB during one complete growing cycle. An empirical model for sigma deg was developed which accounts for its variability in terms of soil moisture, plant moisture and plant height

Fading characteristics of panchromatic radar backscatter from selected agricultural targets

An experiment was performed to empirically determine the fading characteristics of backscattered radar signals from four agricultural targets at 9 GHz. After a short review of the statistics of Rayleigh fading backscatter, the data processing method and results of the data are analyzed. Comparison with theory shows adequate agreement with the experimental results, provided of course, the targets are modeled in a correct manner

Remotely sensing wheat maturation with radar

The scattering properties of wheat were studied in the 8-18 GHz band as a function of frequency, polarization, incidence angle, and crop maturity. Supporting ground truth was collected at the time of measurement. The data indicate that the radar backscattering coefficient is sensitive to both radar system parameters and crop characteristics particularly at incidence angles near nadir. Linear regression analyses of the radar backscattering coefficient on both time and plant moisture content result in rather good correlation. Furthermore, by calculating the average time rate of change of the radar backscattering coefficient it is found that it undergoes rapid variations shortly before and after the wheat is harvested. Both of these analyses suggest methods for estimating wheat maturity and for monitoring the progress of harvest

Microwave remote sensing of soil water content

Microwave remote sensing of soils to determine water content was considered. A layered water balance model was developed for determining soil water content in the upper zone (top 30 cm), while soil moisture at greater depths and near the surface during the diurnal cycle was studied using experimental measurements. Soil temperature was investigated by means of a simulation model. Based on both models, moisture and temperature profiles of a hypothetical soil were generated and used to compute microwave soil parameters for a clear summer day. The results suggest that, (1) soil moisture in the upper zone can be predicted on a daily basis for 1 cm depth increments, (2) soil temperature presents no problem if surface temperature can be measured with infrared radiometers, and (3) the microwave response of a bare soil is determined primarily by the moisture at and near the surface. An algorithm is proposed for monitoring large areas which combines the water balance and microwave methods

Technique for measuring the dielectric constant of thin materials

A practical technique for measuring the dielectric constant of vegetation leaves and similarly thin materials is presented. A rectangular section of the leaf is placed in the tranverse plane in a rectangular waveguide and the magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient are measured over the desired frequency band using a vector network analyzer. By treating the leaf as an infinitesimally thin resistive sheet, an explicit expression for its dielectric constant is obtained in terms of the reflection coefficient. Because of the thin-sheet approximation, however, this approach is valid only at frequencies below 1.5 GHz. To extend the technique to higher frequencies, higher order approximations are derived and their accuracies are compared to the exact dielectric-slab solution. For a material whose thickness is 0.5 mm or less, the proposed technique was found to provide accurate values of its dielectric constant up to frequencies of 12 GHz or higher. The technique was used to measure the 8 to 12 GHz dielectric spectrum for vegetation leaves, teflon and rock samples

A model describing the microwave emission from a multi-layer snowpack at 37 GHz

A multilayer emission model is described and applied to emission measurements obtained at 37 GHz and H polarization using a microwave radiometer attached to a truck-mounted boom in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 1977. Estimated absorption and scattering coefficients and their dependence on wetness were obtained using calculated values of the dielectric constant at 37 GHz along with the model. It was found that the scattering coefficient is comparable in value to the absorption coefficient for dry snow however, the absorption coefficient increases linearly with increasing snow wetness while the scattering coefficient decreases linearly with increasing wetness. The emission from each layer of the snowpack was also calculated using the estimated coefficients. It is shown that for dry snow, the ground underneath the snowpack contributes about 45% of all measured emission while the rest is due to emission from all the layers within the snowpack. When the wetness of the top 5 cm layer of snowpack increases to about 2% by volume, this top 5 cm snowlayer contributes more than 90% of all the measured emission

Estimation of soil moisture with radar remote sensing

The radar response to soil moisture content was investigated using a truck-mounted 1-18 GHz (30-1.67 cm wavelength, respectively) active microwave spectrometer (MAS) system. The sensitivity to soil moisture content and the accuracy with which it could be estimated were evaluated for both bare and vegetation-covered fields. Bare field experiments were conducted to determine the optimum radar parameters (frequency, angle of incidence range, and polarization configuration) for minimizing the response to surface roughness while retaining strong sensitivity to moisture content. In the vegetation-covered case, the effects of crop type, crop height and row direction relative to the radar look direct were evaluated

MAS2-8 radar and digital control unit

The design of the MAS 2-8 (2 to 8 GHz microwave-active spectrometer), a ground-based sensor system, is presented. A major modification in 1974 to the MAS 2-8, that of a control subsystem to automate the data-taking operation, is the prime focus. The digital control unit automatically changes all system parameters except FM rate and records the return signal on paper tape. The overall system operation and a detailed discussion of the design and operation of the digital control unit are presented