A simulation study to understand the influence of the topography on the land emissivity estimated by a satellite microwave radiometer is accomplished in this work. A mountainous area in the Alps (Northern Italy) is considered and the information on the relief, extracted from a digital elevation model (DEM), is exploited. We have simulated an observation of the area of interest performed by a satellite radiometer flying at 800 km of altitude and conically scanning the area with an angle of 53°. We have considered the following frequencies: 23.8, 36.5 and 90.0 GHz, with the following spatial resolutions: 60×40, 37×29 and 15×13 km for the, 23-, 36-, and 90-GHz bands, respectively. The results indicate that the effect of the topography tends to lower the antenna temperature, thus implying an underestimation of the surface emissivity. This effect is larger at 90 GHz for which the maximum underestimation of the antenna temperature is in the order of 5 K. © 2007 IEEE.
Impact of topography on microwave emissivity retrieval from satellite radiometers / Pierdicca, Nazzareno; Pulvirenti, Luca; F. S., Marzano. - (2007), pp. 346-349. (Intervento presentato al convegno 2007 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2007 tenutosi a Barcelona nel 23 June 2007 through 28 June 2007) [10.1109/igarss.2007.4422801].
Impact of topography on microwave emissivity retrieval from satellite radiometers
PIERDICCA, Nazzareno;PULVIRENTI, Luca;
2007
Abstract
A simulation study to understand the influence of the topography on the land emissivity estimated by a satellite microwave radiometer is accomplished in this work. A mountainous area in the Alps (Northern Italy) is considered and the information on the relief, extracted from a digital elevation model (DEM), is exploited. We have simulated an observation of the area of interest performed by a satellite radiometer flying at 800 km of altitude and conically scanning the area with an angle of 53°. We have considered the following frequencies: 23.8, 36.5 and 90.0 GHz, with the following spatial resolutions: 60×40, 37×29 and 15×13 km for the, 23-, 36-, and 90-GHz bands, respectively. The results indicate that the effect of the topography tends to lower the antenna temperature, thus implying an underestimation of the surface emissivity. This effect is larger at 90 GHz for which the maximum underestimation of the antenna temperature is in the order of 5 K. © 2007 IEEE.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
