Multifrequency backscatter modelling of bare soil : Attema, Kats& Krul model applied on Agriscatt 1987 data

The Agriscatt 1987 campaign was carried out in the Netherlands at the Flevopolder test site with the objective to obtain accurate radar cross sections of the selected fields. The bare soil model of Attema, Kats and Krul was tested. This was performed for the six frequencies of the DUTSCATterometer measurement system, developed by the Delft University of Technology. The model was fit on the data points for the different fields using non linear least squares fit procedure. This is done for all fields at once by estamating the two model parameters, representing soil moisture and soil roughness. However, during the measurement a compression of the data occured, which was discovered at the time of writing this report. Still clear trends in soil moisture, soil roughness in relation to the measured backscatter could be found and compared with values known in literature. In general the bare soil model of Attema, Kats and Krul appeared to be useful in relation to all DUTSCAT frequencies (except for the frequencies 5 and 6, where more convergence problems were encountered). The model appeared to be frequency dependent. This report concentrates mainly on the method of model fitting and data handling. Specific conclusions in the sense of landuse applications could not be drawn.