Evaluation of soil moisture by bistatic microwave remote sensing

Abstract

Bistatic outdoor measurements of soil moisture at X-band of microwave frequencies are reported in this paper. The moisture content in the soil greatly affects the dielectric constant and the loss tangent of the composite material and hence the response to microwave signals are also affected. In turn, it has been observed to reflect, in our measurements, on the following derived cognisable parameters, namely, scattering cross-section, and brightness temperature. These parameters are seen to depend, besides moisture content on incidence angle, polarization and surface roughness too. The importance of these outdoor measurements are shown in microwave remote sensing. Limitations of our measurements are also outlined. © 1992.