IMPROVEMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE AMSR2-BASED GLOBAL SOIL MOISTURE ESTIMATION ALGORITHM FROM SATELLITE

Abstract

 Improvements were made in the Radiative Transfer Model (RTM), focusing on the dependency of the dielectric behaviour of wet soils on their water retention characteristics. The methodology for estimating vegetation water content was also modified from the one which is used in the JAXA’s standard algorithm. Comparing with the in-situ measurements in Mongolia, Spain, and Australia, the proposed algorithm in this study was shown to have higher accuracy then JAXA’s product under wet conditions. The appropriate consideration of the vertical profile of soil temperature was shown to be necessary for further improvements.