Project Number: 1265-13610-027-38
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Apr 01, 2004
End Date: Mar 31, 2009

Objective:
Radar remote sensing provides very high spatial resolution data that can be used to estimate soil moisture and agricultural parameters. The radar signals depend upon many factors. Limitations of operational satellites have been the wavelength and the number of independent radar parameters. The JAX ALOS satellite will include a new instrument called PALSAR that includes a low frequency and multipolarizations that may lead to improved soil moisture retrievals. This project will evaluate this new data.

Approach:
Ground based soil moisture observations from existing soil moisture networks and field experiments will be used to develop and evaluate retrieval algorithms. The networks include four ARS watersheds in different climate regimes and others as they become available. Field experiments include planned activities that are part of ongoing research programs. Satellite observations will be obtained by JAXA and provided to ARS for analysis.