Microwave remote sensing of soil moisture has been an active area of research since the 1970s but has yet found little use in operational applications. Given recent advances in retrieval algorithms and the approval of a dedicated soil moisture satellite, it is time to re-assess the potential of various satellite systems to provide soil moisture information for hydrologic applications in an operational fashion. This paper reviews recent progress made with retrieving surface soil moisture from three types of microwave sensors – radiometers, Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs), and scatterometers. The discussion focuses on the operational readiness of the different techniques, considering requirements that are typical for hydrological applications. It is concluded that operational coarse-resolution (25–50 km) soil moisture products can be expected within the next few years from radiometer and scatterometer systems, while scientific and technological breakthroughs are still needed for operational soil moisture retrieval at finer scales (<1 km) from SAR. Also, further research on data assimilation methods is needed to make best use of the coarse-resolution surface soil moisture data provided by radiometer and scatterometer systems in a hydrologic context and to fully assess the value of these data for hydrological predictions.
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Research Article|
February 01 2007
Operational readiness of microwave remote sensing of soil moisture for hydrologic applications
Wolfgang Wagner;
1Christian Doppler Laboratory, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Vienna University of Technology,, Gusshausstrasse 27-29,1040, Vienna,, Austria
E-mail: [email protected]
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Günter Blöschl;
Günter Blöschl
2Institute for Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Karlsplatz 13,1040, Vienna,, Austria
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Paolo Pampaloni;
Paolo Pampaloni
3CNR Istituto di Fisica Applicata Carrara, Firenze, via Panciatichi 64,50127, Firenze,, Italy
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Jean-Christophe Calvet;
Jean-Christophe Calvet
4Centre National de Recherche Météorologique Météo France,, Av. Coriolis 31057,, Toulouse, Cedex 1, France
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Bizzarro Bizzarri;
Bizzarro Bizzarri
5CNR Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima, Rome, Sede di Roma, Area della Ricerca Roma Tor Vergata, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100,00133,, Roma, Italy
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Jean-Pierre Wigneron;
Jean-Pierre Wigneron
6INRA, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique,, UR1263 EPHYSE, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon,, France
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Yann Kerr
Yann Kerr
7Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la Biosphère,, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401, Toulouse, cedex 9, France
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Hydrology Research (2007) 38 (1): 1–20.
Article history
Received:
May 24 2004
Accepted:
July 28 2006
Citation
Wolfgang Wagner, Günter Blöschl, Paolo Pampaloni, Jean-Christophe Calvet, Bizzarro Bizzarri, Jean-Pierre Wigneron, Yann Kerr; Operational readiness of microwave remote sensing of soil moisture for hydrologic applications. Hydrology Research 1 February 2007; 38 (1): 1–20. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/nh.2007.029
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