Author(s): D. Papanastasopoulos; S. Dandurucan
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Soil moisture; Remote sensing; Hydrologic modelling
Abstract: The present work focuses on the use of active microwave observations from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on earth orbiting satellites in order to retrieve hydrologically relevant information of surface characteristics in river catchments, and the evaluation of the potential of such sensors at the present spatial and temporal resolution to obtain information about the dynamics of soil moisture using hydrological modelling. A section of a river catchment in the Republic of Ireland, which is mainly used for agricultural purposes, was selected as the area of study. A ‘lumped' parameter water balance model with a routing component was employed to simulate the flow in the river where the area of interest is drained, and a simultaneous heat and water transfer model was used in order to estimate the moisture at the interchange boundary between the lower atmosphere and the land surface. Radar backscatter coefficients, estimated from ESA's space borne sensor on board of ERS2 satellite are linked to soil moisture conditions of the surface. Statistical analysis has shown a consistent correlation of the radar measurements and the modelled moisture conditions at the catchment scale. The a key variable for environmental and agricultural applications. methodology was used to estimate distributions of soil moisture content over time and space,
Year: 2003