Microcomputer-based Radiometer Data Acquisition And Processing System For Large-area Mapping Of Soil Moisture Content In The Top One Meter Layer

An airborne microcomputer-based radiometer data acquisition and Processing system for mapping the soil moisture content in the top one meter layer is described. The system consists of two radianeters, microconputer system for radiometer data preprocessing and recording on board an aircraft, and software for estimating and mapping the water content in the top one meter layer using both radiometer data and a priori information on hydrophysical properties of soils. The results of the test flights have shown the potential of the system for near-real time mapping the water content in the top one meter layer with accuracy 0.05 g/cm3, if the crop biomass is less than 2 Kg/m2, which is quite