A parametric study of tillage effects on radar backscatter

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of tillage and row spacing on radar backscatter without the variables of moisture and vegetation. To accomplish this objective, a test site was selected in an area characterized by minimal rainfall and sparse vegetation, and simulation rows were plowed on two adjacent 762 x 152.4 m plots, across the 762-m dimension on one plot and along the 762-m dimension on the other plot. It is found that row direction is a significant contributor to radar linearly polarized backscatter from cropland and must be considered when making radar measurements over bare or sparsely vegetated fields. Although the effect decreases with increasing frequency, it is still large (5 dB) at 13.3 13.3 GHz. It is also found that row effects may not exist in cross-polarized radar returns, in which case further measurements with an improved scatterometer system (30-35 dB cross-polarization isolation) are needed.