Assessment of leaf wetness variation effect on differential interferometric observablesc

Abstract:
In this paper, the effect of leaf wetness variation in agricultural vegetation canopies has been experimentally investigated in a controlled electromagnetic environment. A preliminary study conducted over a sugar beet meadow has highlighted that different leaf wetness status between two acquisitions can introduce changes in differential interferometric observables not fully explicable by the current existing temporal decorrelation models. To quantitatively assess this effect, the electromagnetic return from two vegetation samples is acquired at different frequencies, polarisations, and incidence angles in a controlled environment, i.e. an anechoic chamber, isolating leaf wetness from other influencing effects, like wind and soil moisture. Throughout the experiment the concentration of water on plant leaves will be progressively changed and measured with the aid of a spectroradiometer sensor.