• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2007

The polarimetric backscattering coefficients of a wet-land rice field which is an experimental plot belong to National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology in Suwon are measured using ground-based polarimetric scatterometers at 1.8 and 5.3 GHz throughout a growth year from transplanting period to harvest period (May to October in 2006). The polarimetric scatterometers consist of a vector network analyzer with time-gating function and polarimetric antenna set, and are well calibrated to get VV-, HV-, VH-, HH-polarized backscattering coefficients from the measurements, based on single target calibration technique using a trihedral corner reflector. The polarimetric backscattering coefficients are measured at $30^{\circ},\;40^{\circ},\;50^{\circ}\;and\;60^{\circ}$ with 30 independent samples for each incidence angle at each frequency. In the measurement periods the ground truth data including fresh and dry biomass, plant height, stem density, leaf area, specific leaf area, and moisture contents are also collected for each measurement. The temporal variations of the measured backscattering coefficients as well as the measured plant height, LAI (leaf area index) and biomass are analyzed. Then, the measured polarimetric backscattering coefficients are compared with the rice growth parameters. The measured plant height increases monotonically while the measured LAI increases only till the ripening period and decreases after the ripening period. The measured backscattering coefficientsare fitted with polynomial expressions as functions of growth age, plant LAI and plant height for each polarization, frequency, and incidence angle. As the incidence angle is bigger, correlations of L band signature to the rice growth was higher than that of C band signatures. It is found that the HH-polarized backscattering coefficients are more sensitive than the VV-polarized backscattering coefficients to growth age and other input parameters. It is necessary to divide the data according to the growth period which shows the qualitative changes of growth such as panicale initiation, flowering or heading to derive functions to estimate rice growth.