Soil moisture retrieval using L-band radiometer and ground-penetrating radar

Active and passive remote sensing; GPR; L-band radiometer; Bare soils; Brightness temperatures; Empirical model; Field experiment; Field scale; Ground Penetrating Radar; Ground penetrating radars; Irrigation patterns; L-band radiometry; Low frequency; Passive remote sensing; RMS errors; Root-mean-square errors; Soil moisture retrievals; Surface reflections; Surface soil moisture; Time Domain Reflectometry; Vertical polarization; Geological surveys; Geology; Ground penetrating radar systems; Irrigation; Moisture control; Moisture determination; Radar; Radar reflection; Radiometers; Radiometry; Remote sensing; Soil moisture; Surface properties; Surface roughness; Time domain analysis; Water content

Abstract :

[en] The objective of this study was to evaluate two remote-sensing methods for mapping the surface soil moisture of a bare soil, namely L-band radiometry using brightness temperature and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) using surface reflection inversion. Invasive time-domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements were used as a reference. A field experiment was performed in which these three methods were used to map soil moisture after controlled heterogeneous irrigation that ensured a wide range of water content. The heterogeneous irrigation pattern was reasonably well reproduced by both remote-sensing techniques. For GPR, the effect of roughness was excluded by operating at low frequencies (0.2-0.8 GHz) that were not sensitive to the field surface roughness. For the radiometer, the effect of roughness was accounted for using an empirical model that required calibration with the reference TDR measurements. The root mean square (RMS) error between soil moisture measured by GPR and TDR was 0.038 m3 m- while the RMS error between radiometer (horizontal and vertical polarizations)- and TDR-derived soil water content was 0.020 m 3 m-3. These results suggest that both remote-sensing techniques are promising for field-scale mapping of surface soil moisture over bare soils. © 2011 IEEE.

Disciplines :

Environmental sciences & ecology
Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Jonard, François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Systèmes d'information géographiques

Weihermuller, L.; Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Schwank, M.; Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany, Section 5.1 Geoecology and Geomorphology, German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 1447 Potsdam, Germany

Vereecken, H.; Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Lambot, S.; Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany, Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2 box 2, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Language :

English

Title :

Soil moisture retrieval using L-band radiometer and ground-penetrating radar

Publication date :

2011

Event name :

International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)

Event place :

Vancouver, Canada

Event date :

from 24-07-2011 to 29-07-2011

Audience :

International

Main work title :

IGARSS 2011 - 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Proceedings

Publisher :

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Commentary :

9781457710056

Available on ORBi :

since 22 September 2021

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