Soil moisture and rainfall estimation over a semiarid environment with the ESTAR microwave radiometer

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 836 - 841
• Main Authors: Jackson, T.J., Le Vine, D.M., Griffis, A.J., Goodrich, D.C., Schmugge, T.J., Swift, C.T., O'Neill, P.E.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.07.1993; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Aircraft; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models; Hydrologic measurements; Instruments; L-band; Land surface temperature; Microwave radiometry; NASA; Soil measurements; Soil moisture; Soils; Space technology; Surficial geology; Walnut Gulch Watershed, Arizona; Experience; Rain; Accuracy; Soil moisture; Multispectral remote sensing; Microwave radiometer; Radiometry; Brightness temperature; microwave methods; Atmospheric precipitation; semi-arid environment
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/36.239906

The application of an airborne electronically steered thinned array L-band radiometer (ESTAR) for soil moisture mapping was investigated over the semiarid rangeland Walnut Gulch Watershed in southeastern Arizona. During the experiment, antecedent rainfall and evaporation were very different and resulted in a wide range of soil moisture conditions. The high spatial variability of rainfall events within this region resulted in moisture conditions with distinct spatial patterns. Analysis showed a correlation between the decrease in brightness temperature after a rainfall and the amount of rain. The sensor's performance was verified using two approaches. First, the microwave data were used to predict soil moisture, and the predictions were compared to ground observations of soil moisture. A second verification used an extensive data set collected the previous year at the same site with a conventional L-band push broom microwave radiometer (PBMR). Both tests showed that the ESTAR is capable of providing soil moisture with the same level of accuracy as existing systems.< >