The influence of surface canopy water on the relationship between L-band backscatter and biophysical variables in agricultural monitoring

The presence of surface water on the canopy affects radar backscatter. However, its influence on the relationship between radar backscatter and crop biophysical parameters has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to quantify the influence of surface canopy water (SCW) on the relationship between L-band radar backscatter and...

Towards Understanding the Influence of Vertical Water Distribution on Radar Backscatter from Vegetation Using a Multi-Layer Water Cloud Model

For a good interpretation of radar backscatter sensitivity to vegetation water dynamics, we need to know which parts of the vegetation layer control that backscatter. However, backscatter sensitivity to different depths in the canopy is poorly understood. This is partly caused by a lack of observational data to describe the vertical moisture...

The Importance of Overpass Time in Agricultural Applications of Radar

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of diurnal variation in internal and surface canopy water on L-band backscatter in the context of the influence of overpass time on agricultural applications. A unique and intensive dataset was collected during a full growing season of corn in Florida, USA in 2018. L-band data was...

Response of sub-daily L-band backscatter to internal and surface canopy water dynamics

The latest developments in radar mission concepts suggest that subdaily synthetic aperture radar will become available in the next decades. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the potential value of subdaily spaceborne radar for monitoring vegetation water dynamics, which is essential to understand the role of vegetation in the climate...

Crop monitoring using Sentinel-1 data: A case study from The Netherlands

Agriculture is of huge economic significance in The Netherlands where the provision of real-time, reliable information on crop development is essential to support the transition towards precision agriculture. Optical imagery can provide invaluable insights into crop growth and development but is severely hampered by cloud cover. This case study...

Monitoring Key Agricultural CROPS in the Netherlands using Sentinel-1

In this study, we performed ground validation to support the interpretation of Sentinel-1 imagery during a full growing season of five key crop types in the Netherlands. Crop height and growth stage were monitored weekly in a total of 25 parcels of maize, potato, sugar beet maize and English rye grass in the province of Flevoland....