Some critical remarks on the use of C-band radar data for soil moisture detection

Multifrequency microwave backscatter from soils under different agricultural crops and different moisture conditions was measured during the LOTREX campaign (Land Surface Transverse Experiment. 26 June-21 July, 1989) in northern West Germany (LOTREX is part of the International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP)). The data were gathered with an airborne coherent Doppler radar scatterometer at an off-nadir angle of 23° as it was multiplexed through its L-, C-, X- and K_u-bahds. The frequency dependency of the backscatter power spectra was analysed and published elsewhere. In this Letter we discuss polarization effects in the C-band. (author)