L-band microwave observations over land surface using a two-dimensional synthetic aperture radiometer

Abstract

Antenna size is a major factor that has limited realization of potential capabilities of L-band (1.4 GHz) microwave radiometry to estimate surface soil moisture from space. However, emerging interferometric technology, called aperture synthesis, has been developed to address this limitation. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission will apply the technique to monitor these parameters at a global-scale in the near future. The first airborne experiment using an aircraft prototype called the Two-Dimensional Synthetic Aperture Radiometer (2D-STAR) was performed during Soil Moisture Experiment in 2003 (SMEX03). To gain insight, the L-band brightness temperature data acquired by 2D-STAR..