Surface Topography and Mixed-Pixel Effects on the Simulated L-Band Brightness Temperatures

The impact of topography and mixed pixels on L-band radiometric observations over land needs to be quantified to improve the accuracy of soil moisture retrievals. For this purpose, a series of simulations has been performed with an improved version of the soil moisture and ocean salinity (SMOS) end-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 2007-07, Vol.45 (7), p.1996-2003
Main Authors: Talone, Marco, Camps, Adriano, Monerris, Alessandra, Vall-llossera, Merce, Ferrazzoli, Paolo, Piles, Mara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Applied geophysics
Brightness temperature
Computer simulation
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Enginyeria de la telecomunicació
Exact sciences and technology
Generators
Hidratació
Humitat del sòl
Image processing
Imatges
Internal geophysics
L-band
L-band radiometry
mixed pixel
Moisture
Ocean temperature
Pixels
Processament
Radiocomunicació i exploració electromagnètica
Radiometria
Radiometry
Retrieval
Sea surface
Shadow mapping
simulator
SMOS End-to-End Performance Simulator (SEPS)
SMOS mission
Soil moisture
Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS)
Spatial resolution
Surface topography
Teledetecció
Topografia
Topography
Vegetation mapping
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC
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Summary:The impact of topography and mixed pixels on L-band radiometric observations over land needs to be quantified to improve the accuracy of soil moisture retrievals. For this purpose, a series of simulations has been performed with an improved version of the soil moisture and ocean salinity (SMOS) end-to-end performance simulator (SEPS). The brightness temperature generator of SEPS has been modified to include a 100-m-resolution land cover map and a 30-m-resolution digital elevation map of Catalonia (northeast of Spain). This high-resolution generator allows the assessment of the errors in soil moisture retrieval algorithms due to limited spatial resolution and provides a basis for the development of pixel disaggregation techniques. Variation of the local incidence angle, shadowing, and atmospheric effects (up- and downwelling radiation) due to surface topography has been analyzed. Results are compared to brightness temperatures that are computed under the assumption of an ellipsoidal Earth.
ISSN:0196-2892
1558-0644
DOI:10.1109/TGRS.2007.898254