Disaggregation of Low-Resolution L-Band Radiometry Using C-Band Radar Data

Abstract

For Earth observation data to be useful for a wide range of land surface applications, a kilometer or finer resolution is required. Unfortunately, passive microwave observations at low microwave frequencies (1-10 GHz), already providing important information on soil moisture and vegetation dynamics, are generally only available at a resolution of tens of kilometers. This letter presents a new downscaling method relating L-band radiometer and C-band radar observations for downscaling purposes. The data were obtained from two extensive airborne field experiments across a 80 000-km2 catchment in south-eastern Australia and coinciding Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar acquisitions, perfo..