Combined Use of Theoretical and Semi-Empirical Models of Radar Backscattering to Estimate Characteristics of Vegetated Canopies

Abstract

Because of their greater penetration depth in natural media, atmosphere and vegetation, microwave remote sensing techniques can overcome the limitations of the optical domain. As several imaging radars are already or to be launched during the coming decade, it is the most important to develop inversion algorithms allowing the use of radar data for estimating canopy characteristics such as biomass and leaf area index, as well as to correct estimations of surface soil moisture for the effect of vegetation.