Measurements of Microwave Polarimetric Backscattering from a Wet Soil Surface and Comparison with a Semi-empirical Scattering Model

Microwave polarimetric backscattering from a wet soil surface had been measured using a Ku-band polarimetric scatterometer at the incidence angles ranging from 10$^{\circ}$ to 70$^{\circ}$ Since the accurate target parameters as well as the radar parameters are necessary for radar scattering modeling, a complete and accurate set of ground truth data were also collected, from which accurate measurements were made of the rms height, correlation length, and dielectric constant. The measured polarimetric backscattering coefficients (vv-, hh-, vh-, hv-polarizations) were compared with theoretical models and empirical models. A new semi-empirical model for microwave polarimetric radar backscattering from bare soil surfaces was developed using polarimetric radar measurements and the knowledge based on the theoretical and numerical solutions. The model was found to yield very good agreement with the backscattering measurements of this study.