Radar imagery for precision crop and soil management

Studies during the past 25 yrs have shown that measurements of surface reflectance and temperature (termed optical remote sensing) are useful for monitoring crop and soil conditions. Far less attention has been given to the use of radar imagery, even though Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems have the advantages of cloud penetration, all-weather coverage, high spatial resolution, day-night acquisitions, and signal independence of the solar illumination angle. In this study, we obtained coincident optical and SAR images of an agricultural area to investigate the use of SAR imagery for precision farm management. Results showed that SAR imagery was sensitive to variations in field tillage, surface soil moisture and vegetation density. The coincident optical images proved useful in interpretation of the response of SAR backscatter to soil and plant conditions.