Remote Sensing (Jun 2011)

Estimating Surface Soil Moisture from TerraSAR-X Data over Two Small Catchments in the Sahelian Part of Western Niger

  • Nicolas Baghdadi,
  • Christophe Sannier,
  • Chadi Abdallah,
  • Jean Louis Rajot,
  • Mehrez Zribi,
  • Jean François Desprats,
  • Oumarou Malam Issa,
  • Nicolas Beaugendre,
  • Pauline Camus

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs3061266
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 6
pp. 1266 – 1283

Abstract

Read online

The objective of this study is to validate an approach based on the change detection in multitemporal TerraSAR images (X-band) for mapping soil moisture in the Sahelian area. In situ measurements were carried out simultaneously with TerraSAR-X acquisitions on two study sites in Niger. The results show the need for comparing the difference between the rainy season image and a reference image acquired in the dry season. The use of two images enables a reduction of the roughness effects. The soils of plateaus covered with erosion crusts are dry throughout the year while the fallows show more significant moisture during the rainy season. The accuracy on the estimate of soil moisture is about 2.3% (RMSE) in comparison with in situ moisture contents.

Keywords