Abstract
In arid prairie, soil moisture has a substantial impact on the prairie resource management. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) based soil moisture retrieval is often hampered by vegetation effects on the backscattering coefficient. A new method has been proposed to retrieve soil moisture using TerraSAR-X data. The developed method included bare soil backscattering σppsoilo simulation, vegetation effect correction, and the relationship between σppsoilo and soil moisture establishment. The bare soil surface was described using the forward advanced integral equation model. The vegetation influence was eliminated through an empirical ratio method. Soil moisture was retrieved from the estimated σppsoilo. The collected datasets in Wutumeiren prairie were used to verify the developed method. Four different vegetation variables were incorporated to separate the influence of vegetation, including leaf area index (LAI), normalized difference vegetation index, enhanced vegetation index, and vegetation water content, respectively. The lowest soil moisture inversion error was found when LAI was applied to decouple the effect of vegetation, which led the root mean square error to reach up to 5.02 vol.%. From the perspective of experiment results, LAI was recommended to characterize the scattering mechanism of vegetation. These results indicated that TerraSAR-X data have an operational potential for soil moisture retrieval in arid prairie.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.