Soil Moisture Change Retrieval Using S-Band Radar Data During SGP99 and SMEX02

HJ-1C will be launched at the end of 2008, it is a component of HJ satellites which are developed in China. HJ-1C SAR has a frequency of S-band (3.2 GHz), VV single polarization, and incident angle range from 25deg-47deg. Soil moisture retrieval using L- and C-band radar has been widely studied, but little attention was paid to S-band data. For the application of HJ-1C SAR, in this paper, the available data of S-band radar data by PALS (Passive and Active L- and S-band sensor) from SGP99 and SMEX02 experiments was used to study the potential of soil moisture change retrieval using S-band single polarization radar.