Interrelationship Analysis of L-Band Backscattering Intensity and Soil Dielectric Constant for Soil Moisture Retrieval Using PALSAR Data

The purpose of this paper is to study about the interrelationship between the backscattering intensity of PALSAR data and the laboratory measurement of dielectric constant and soil moisture. The characterization of the dielectric constant of arid soils in the 0.3 - 3 GHz frequency range, particularly focused in L-band was analyzed in varied soil moisture content and soil textures. The interrelationship between the relative dielectric constant with soil textures and backscattering of PALSAR data was also analyzed and statistical model was computed. In this study, after collecting the soil samples in the field from top soil (0 - 10 cm) in a homogeneous area then, the dielectric constant was measured using a dielectric probe tool kit. For investigated of the characteristics and behaviors of the dielectric constant and relationship with backscattering a variety of moisture content from 0% to 40% and soil fraction conditions was tested in laboratory condition. All data were analyzed by integrating it with other geophysical data in GIS, such as land cover and soil texture. Thus, the regression model computed between measured soil moisture and backscattering coefficient of PALSR data which were extracted as same point of each soil sample pixel. Finally, after completing the preprocessing, such as removing the speckle noise by averaging, the model was applied to the PALSAR data for retrieving the soil moisture map in arid region of Iran. The analysis of dielectric constant properties result has shown the soil texture after the moisture content has the largest effected on dielectric constant. In addition, the PALSAR data in dual polarization are also able to derive the soil moisture using statistical method. The dielectric constant and backscattering shown have the exponential relationship and the HV polarization mode is more sensitive than the HH mode to soil moisture and overestimated the soil moisture as well. The validation of result has shown the 4.2 Vol-% RMSE of soil moisture. It means that the backscattering analysis should consider about other factors such a surface roughness and mix pixel of vegetation effective.