Retrieval of Soil Moisture using SIR-C Polarimetric Data

Abstract

Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-C) polarimetric data acquired over Gujarat test site, India, during April and October 1994 were processed to retrieve soil moisture and surface roughness using multi-polarization techniques. Synchronous field data were collected and compared with the results obtained using SIR-C data. Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) images in visible region were used for locating groundtruth points. Multi-polarization inversion techniques are found to be sensitive to retrieval of soil moisture and surface roughness parameters. However, the accuracy is not adequate. There is a need to improve the existing inversion models to suit to the Indian agricultural fields.