合成開口レーダの農業への応用

抄録

This article summarizes the present state of the application of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to agriculture. Among the various applications of spaceborne SARs, agriculture is one of the important fields in which the characteristics of SAR, including all-weather and day-and-night imaging capabilities, can be fully utilized on a global scale with high spatial resolution. The main objectives to be achieved by SAR in the field of agriculture are to estimate the agricultural crop list and production, land cover and use, and soil moisture, the source of drought, floods, and above all, crop growth. In the present review, a brief summary of the characteristics of SAR and its parameters associated with agricultural applications is given, and the methodologies for estimating growth and classifying crops are then described. The techniques of soil moisture measurement are then described with examples. Although this review article deals with the up-dated theories and examples, some early studies are also included, as they are the basis of the present technology.