Role of computational EM in radar remote sensing of water resources

An overview of microwave remote sensing of water resources is provided that includes issues related to both instrumentation and data analysis methods. Emphasis is placed on computational and analytical electromagnetic scattering and inverse scattering models needed to retrieve geophysical products from radar remote sensing data. The emerging research on models and results of subsurface characterization for mapping root-zone soil moisture, ground water, and variations in permafrost properties in the boreal and arctic regions is presented, along with field-based observations used for validation of retrieved products.