Search

An analysis of the sensitivity of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter (σo) to crop and soil conditions was conducted using 57 RADARSAT-2 C-band quad-polarized SAR images acquired from April to September 2009 for large fields of wheat, barley, oat, corn, onion, and alfalfa in Barrax, Spain. Preliminary results showed that the cross-polarized σHVo was particularly useful for monitoring both crop and soil conditions and was the least sensitive to differences in beam incidence angle. The greatest separability of barley, corn, and onion occurred in spring after the barley had been harvested or in the narrow time window associated with grain crop heading when corn and onion were still immature. The time series of σo offered reliable information about crop growth stage, such as jointing and heading in grain crops and leaf growth and reproduction in corn and onion. There was a positive correlation between σo and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for onion and corn but not for all crops, and the impact of view direction and incidence angle on the time series was minimal compared to the signal response to crop and soil conditions. Related to planning for future C-band SAR missions, we found that quad-polarization with image acquisition frequency from 3-6 days was best suited for distinguishing crop types and for monitoring crop phenology, single- or dual-polarization with an acquisition frequency of 3-6 days was sufficient for mapping crop green biomass, and single- or dual-polarization with daily image acquisition was necessary to capture rapid changes in soil moisture condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface roughness is a key parameter of radar backscatter models designed to retrieve surface soil moisture (θS) information from radar images. This work offers a theory-based approach for estimating a key roughness parameter, termed the roughness correlation length (L c). The L c is the length in centimetres from a point on the ground to a short distance for which the heights of a rough surface are correlated with each other. The approach is based on the relation between L c and h RMS as theorized by the Integral Equation Model (IEM). The h RMS is another roughness parameter, which is the root mean squared height variation of a rough surface. The relation is calibrated for a given site based on the radar backscatter of the site under dry soil conditions. When this relation is supplemented with the site specific measurements of h RMS, it is possible to produce estimates of L c. The approach was validated with several radar images of the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed in southeast Arizona, USA. Results showed that the IEM performed well in reproducing satellite-based radar backscatter when this new derivation of L c was used as input. This was a substantial improvement over the use of field measurements of L c. This new approach also has advantages over empirical formulations for the estimation of L c because it does not require field measurements of θS for iterative calibration and it accounts for the very complex relation between L c and h RMS found in heterogeneous landscapes. Finally, this new approach opens up the possibility of determining both roughness parameters without ancillary data based on the radar backscatter difference measured for two different incident angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrigation scheduling requires an operational means to quantify plant water stress. Remote sensing may offer quick measurements with regional coverage that cannot be achieved by current ground-based sampling techniques. This study explored the relation between variability in fine-resolution measurements of canopy temperature and crop water stress in cotton fields in Central Arizona, USA. By using both measurements and simulation models, this analysis compared the standard deviation of the canopy temperature $$ {\left( {\sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} } \right)} $$ to the more complex and data intensive crop water stress index (CWSI). For low water stress, field $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} $$ was used to quantify water deficit with some confidence. For moderately stressed crops, the $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} $$ was very sensitive to variations in plant water stress and had a linear relation with field-scale CWSI. For highly stressed crops, the estimation of water stress from $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} $$ is not recommended. For all applications of $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} , $$ one must account for variations in irrigation uniformity, field root zone water holding capacity, meteorological conditions and spatial resolution of T c data. These sensitivities limit the operational application of $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} $$ for irrigation scheduling. On the other hand, $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} $$ was most sensitive to water stress in the range in which most irrigation decisions are made, thus, with some consideration of daily meteorological conditions, $$ \sigma _{{T_{{\text{c}}} }} $$ could provide a relative measure of temporal variations in root zone water availability. For large irrigation districts, this may be an economical option for minimizing water use and maximizing crop yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation of soil moisture at large scale has been performed using several satellite-based passive microwave sensors and a variety of retrieval methods over the past two decades. The most recent source of soil moisture is the European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. A thorough validation must be conducted to insure product quality that will, in turn, support the widespread utilization of the data. This is especially important since SMOS utilizes a new sensor technology and is the first passive L-band system in routine operation. In this paper, we contribute to the validation of SMOS using a set of four in situ soil moisture networks located in the U.S. These ground-based observations are combined with retrievals based on another satellite sensor, the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E). The watershed sites are highly reliable and address scaling with replicate sampling. Results of the validation analysis indicate that the SMOS soil moisture estimates are approaching the level of performance anticipated, based on comparisons with the in situ data and AMSR-E retrievals. The overall root-mean-square error of the SMOS soil moisture estimates is 0.043 m3/m3 for the watershed networks (ascending). There are bias issues at some sites that need to be addressed, as well as some outlier responses. Additional statistical metrics were also considered. Analyses indicated that active or recent rainfall can contribute to interpretation problems when assessing algorithm performance, which is related to the contributing depth of the satellite sensor. Using a precipitation flag can improve the performance. An investigation of the vegetation optical depth (tau) retrievals provided by the SMOS algorithm indicated that, for the watershed sites, these are not a reliable source of information about the vegetation canopy. The SMOS algorithms will continue to be refined as feedback from validation is evaluated, and it is expected that the SMOS estimates will improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite significant differences in age of onset and incidence of breast cancer between Caucasian (CA), African-American (AA) and Korean (KO) women, little is known about differences in BRCA1/2 mutations in these populations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of BRCA1/2 mutations and the association between BRCA1/2 mutation status and secondary malignancies among young women with breast cancer in these three racially diverse groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]