Microwave Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture Science and Applications

Authors

Son V. Nghiem, California Institute of Technology
Brian D. Wardlow, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
David Allured, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Mark Svoboda, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Doug LeComte, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Matthew Rosencrans, National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationFollow
Steven K. Chan, California Institute of Technology
Gregory Neumann, California Institute of Technology

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Published in Remote Sensing of Drought: Innovative Monitoring Approaches, edited by Brian D. Wardlow, Martha C. Anderson, & James P. Verdin (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, 2012).

Comments

U.S. Government Work

Abstract

Soil moisture is a fundamental link between global water and carbon cycles and has major applications in predicting natural hazards such as droughts and floods (National Research Council, 2007). From precipitation data, soil wetness can be estimated by hydrological land-surface models. In the United States, preliminary precipitation data are based on measurements gathered from many active stations nationwide each month, and it takes 3–4 months to assemble final, quality-controlled data. In the western United States, some climate divisions may have no stations reporting in a particular month or may lack first- or second-order stations, and significant blockages by mountains limit the capability of precipitation measurement by surface rain radars (Maddox et al., 2002).