Radar Backscatter Measurements As a Part of Kurex-91

Radar backscatter measurements were performed by the University of Kansas Radar Systems and Remote Sensing Laborato- ry (RSL) from a helicopter as a part of KUREX-91. The measure- ments occurred during a period of three weeks in July 1991. A radar operating at 4.3 GHz with HH polarization collected data at incidence angles from 20" to 50". Data were from three flight lines consisting of agriculture and natural vegetation-covered soils. In addition to scatterometer measurements, detailed observations were made of the soil moisture and vegetation characteristics over selected sites along the flight lines. Some of the scatterometer measurements were performed to coincide with the Soviet Almaz satellite overpasses. Preliminary observations of the scatterometer campaign are presented in this paper.