Potentials of RADARSAT-2 data to monitor freezing/thawing cycles over agricultural lands in Canada

The target decompositions technique of Freeman-Durden is used to monitor freeze/thaw cycles, with fully polarimetric RADARSAT-2 images acquired over agricultural areas. In this paper is presented a preliminary analysis of the scattering mechanisms derived from three RADARSAT-2 acquisitions during the fall of 2008, over agricultural sites located in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. AMSR-E brightness temperatures data is also used in the analysis. Contrary to expectations, results indicate that surface scattering represents the main contribution to the signal over frozen soils.