Álvarez-Mozos, Jesús

Loading...
Profile Picture

Email Address

Birth Date

Job Title

Last Name

Álvarez-Mozos

First Name

Jesús

person.page.departamento

Ingeniería

person.page.instituteName

IS-FOOD. Research Institute on Innovation & Sustainable Development in Food Chain

person.page.observainves

person.page.upna

Name

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Influence of surface roughness spatial variability and temporal dynamics on the retrieval of soil moisture from SAR observations
    (MDPI, 2009) Álvarez-Mozos, Jesús; Verhoest, Niko E. C.; Larrañaga Urien, Arantzazu; Casalí Sarasíbar, Javier; González de Audícana Amenábar, María; Proyectos e Ingeniería Rural; Landa Ingeniaritza eta Proiektuak
    Radar-based surface soil moisture retrieval has been subject of intense research during the last decades. However, several difficulties hamper the operational estimation of soil moisture based on currently available spaceborne sensors. The main difficulty experienced so far results from the strong influence of other surface characteristics, mainly roughness, on the backscattering coefficient, which hinders the soil moisture inversion. This is especially true for single configuration observations where the solution to the surface backscattering problem is ill-posed. Over agricultural areas cultivated with winter cereal crops, roughness can be assumed to remain constant along the growing cycle allowing the use of simplified approaches that facilitate the estimation of the moisture content of soils. However, the field scale spatial variability and temporal variations of roughness can introduce errors in the estimation of soil moisture that are difficult to evaluate. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of roughness spatial variability and roughness temporal variations on the retrieval of soil moisture from radar observations. A series of laser profilometer measurements were performed over several fields in an experimental watershed from September 2004 to March 2005. The influence of the observed roughness variability and its temporal variations on the retrieval of soil moisture is studied using simulations performed with the Integral Equation Model, considering different sensor configurations. Results show that both field scale roughness spatial variability and its temporal variations are aspects that need to be taken into account, since they can introduce large errors on the retrieved soil moisture values.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    On the soil roughness parameterization problem in soil moisture retrieval of bare surfaces from synthetic aperture radar
    (MDPI, 2008) Verhoest, Niko E. C.; Lievens, Hans; Wagner, Wolfgang; Álvarez-Mozos, Jesús; Moran, M. Susan; Mattia, Francesco; Proyectos e Ingeniería Rural; Landa Ingeniaritza eta Proiektuak
    Synthetic Aperture Radar has shown its large potential for retrieving soil moisture maps at regional scales. However, since the backscattered signal is determined by several surface characteristics, the retrieval of soil moisture is an ill-posed problem when using single configuration imagery. Unless accurate surface roughness parameter values are available, retrieving soil moisture from radar backscatter usually provides inaccurate estimates. The characterization of soil roughness is not fully understood, and a large range of roughness parameter values can be obtained for the same surface when different measurement methodologies are used. In this paper, a literature review is made that summarizes the problems encountered when parameterizing soil roughness as well as the reported impact of the errors made on the retrieved soil moisture. A number of suggestions were made for resolving issues in roughness parameterization and studying the impact of these roughness problems on the soil moisture retrieval accuracy and scale.