Comparison of NOAA AVHRR and ERS wind scatterometer data for vegetation signatures

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1998

Publication Title

Space Technology

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

18

Issue

4

First page number:

233

Last page number:

238

Abstract

Wind scatterometer aboard European Remote Sensing Satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 have provided global radar backscatter measurements of the Earth's surface since summer 1991. These data are used operationally over the oceans for wind field retrieval and their possible land applications have been under investigation. Due to the continuity of the data, the wide range of incidence angle and global coverage these data have been found to provide valuable information in spite of its coarse resolution. Furthermore, the day/night and all-weather operation capability enables data acquisition possible round the clock and under cloudy and rainy conditions. The geographical parameters of the land are reflected in the incidence angle diversity of the ERS scatterometer.In this paper we analyze Normalized Radar Cross Section (NRCS) measurement obtained over Thar desert during 1992-1996. The vegetation intensity over land is reflected in the incidence angle diversity of the ERS scatterometer. Temporal variations in the NRCS in relation to rainfall and vegetation cover are compared. Seasonal as well as inter-annual variations are investigated by relating the radar backscatter with AVHRR NDVI data. It is demonstrated that valuable information about vegetation changes can be extracted from the ERS scatterometer data over arid regions which can be an important source of data for climatic monitoring.

Keywords

Climate monitoring; European Remote Sensing Satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2; Remote sensing; Thar desert; Wind; Vegetation

Disciplines

Environmental Monitoring | Geographic Information Sciences | Plant Sciences

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited


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