C-Band Radiometric Response to Rainfall Events in the Subtropical Chaco Forest

GRINGS, FRANCISCO MATIAS; DOUNA, VANESA; BARRAZA, VERONICA; SALVIA, MARÍA MERCEDES; KARSZENBAUM HAYDEE; GASPARRI, NESTOR IGNACIO; FERRAZZOLI, PAOLO; RAHMOUNE, RASHID

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2012 vol. 9 p. 209 - 213

1545-598X

In this letter, multitemporal signatures collected by Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) over the dry forest of Chaco, located in North Argentina, are analyzed. The forest has a biomass of about 100 t/ha and a woody volume of about 120 m3/ha. A clear increase of polarization index at C-band is observed after intense rain events in two different locations. Simulations of a discrete model attribute this effect to variations of soil moisture and predict an effect comparable with the measured one. Results indicate that there is a potential to monitor soil moisture variations below dry forests with moderate biomass, also in view of the forthcoming availability of L-band data.