Assessment of leaf wetness variation effect on differential interferometric observables

Kurzfassung

In this paper, the effect of leaf wetness variation in agricultural vegetation canopies has been experimentally investigate in a controlled electromagnetic environment. A preliminary study conducted over a sugar beet meadow ha highlighted that different leaf wetness status between two acquisitions can introduce changes in differential interferometri observables not fully explicable by the current existing temporal decorrelation models. To quantitatively asses this effect, the electromagnetic return from two vegetation samples is acquired at different frequencies, polarisations and incidence angles in a controlled environment, i.e. an anechoic chamber, isolating leaf wetness from other influencin effects, like wind and soil moisture. Throughout the experiment the concentration of water on plant leaves will b progressively changed and measured with the aid of a spectroradiometer sensor. © VDE VERLAG GMBH · Berlin · Offenbach.