Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture

Abstract

Soil moisture is an essential climate variable and knowledge about its state and dynamics is vital for numerous applications, from agricultural drought monitoring to studying land–atmosphere interactions. Remote sensing instruments mounted on satellites are currently our only way to obtain frequent observations of global soil moisture patterns. This chapter provides: (i) an overview of state-of-the-art remote sensing technology that can be used for space-borne soil moisture monitoring, (ii) an account on physical and empirical retrieval models used to generate remotely sensed soil moisture products, and (iii) an outlook into current and future cutting-edge developments.

Publication
Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment
Jian Peng
Jian Peng
Professor for Hydrology and Remote Sensing / Head of Remote Sensing Department (UFZ)

I am the head of the Department of Remote Sensing at the UFZ and a full professor for Hydrology and Remote Sensing at the University of Leipzig.