Decorrelation of backscattered signal due to soil moisture changes

Abstract

The decorrelation of the backscattered signal from a sample of sand on dependence of surface moisture conditions has been measured in the frequency band 2-12 GHz, at three incidence angles (18/spl deg/, 23/spl deg/ and 25/spl deg/) and for two types of surface profiles. The signal is well correlated between dry and wet conditions and a coherent phase shift can be estimated. The phase shift is bounded to a limited range (<90/spl deg/) in the whole frequency band and it can be interpreted as the effect of the change of dielectric properties on the reflection coefficient of the surface.