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Title: L-Band Microwave Observations over land Surface using a Two-Dimensional Synthetic Aperture Radiometer

Author
item Ryu, Dongryeol
item Jackson, Thomas
item BINDLISH, RAJAT - SSAI
item LE VINE, DAVID - NASA GSFC
item HAKEN, MICHAEL - NASA GSFC

Submitted to: American Geophysical Union
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/2/2006
Publication Date: 12/11/2006
Citation: Ryu, D., Jackson, T.J., Bindlish, R., Le Vine, D., Haken, M. 2006. L-band microwave observations over land surface using a two-dimensional synthetic aperture radiometer [abstract]. EOS Transactions of the American Geophysical Union. 87(52), Fall Meeting Supplements, Abstract H14C-04.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A number of studies have demonstrated the potential capabilities of passive microwave remote sensing at L-band (1.4 GHz) to measure surface soil moisture. Aperture synthesis is a technology for obtaining high spatial resolution at long wavelengths with a practical radiometer antenna. During the Soil Moisture Experiment in 2003 (SMEX 03), the Two-Dimensional Synthetic Aperture Radiometer (@D-STAR) was flown onboard a NASA P3B aircraft over different climate regions with various vegetation conditions in Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma. 2D-STAR is one of the first airborne synthetic aperture radiometers capable of producing multiple polarized multi-angular brightness temperature data over land. In this study, brightness teperature data collected during SMEX03 is presented and analyzed for various land cover types, which include pasture, crop field, and forest. The sensitivity of the brightness temperature to soil moisture at forest sites is of particular interest in understanding its potential to estimate soil moisture under dense vegetation cover. Advantages of utilizing dual polarized multi-angular L-band data and implications for processing L-band interferometric data from space by the future Soil Moisture and Salinity Mission (SMOS) are discussed.