Evaluating Soil Surface Scattering Models: Perspectives from Polarimetric P-, L- and S-Band SAR Observations
Date
2026
Authors
Xiong, Z.
Walker, J.P.
Zhu, L.
Ng, B.
Ye, N.
Wu, X.
Zhou, L.
White Murillo, L.F.
Hills, J.
Moghaddam, M.
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Journal article
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2026; 64:4501216-1-1-16
Statement of Responsibility
Ziwei Xiong, Je rey P. Walker, Liujun Zhu, Brian Ng, Nan Ye, Xiaoling Wu, Lixiaozhou Zhou, Luisa F. White-Murillo, James Hills, Mahta Moghaddam and Simon Yueh
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Abstract
Recent advancements in spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) missions enable multifrequency soil moisture retrieval; however, the performance of standard surface scattering models at S- and P-bands remains largely underexplored compared to L-, C-, and X-bands. Accordingly, this study has evaluated three widely used surface scattering models (Dubois, Oh, and AIEM) across C-, S-, L-, and two alternative P-band frequencies using a combination of satellite and airborne data. These surface scattering models were also calibrated under two scenarios, one characterized by limited spatial and temporal variability and the other having considerable spatial and temporal variability. Results showed that the semi-empirical Dubois and Oh models performed reliably at L-band, with RMSE values around 2.4 dB. However, the AIEM model revealed large biases, underestimating or overestimating the backscatter by up to 6.5 dB. However, when calibrating these models against a dataset with similar temporal and spatial characteristics, the bias was reduced considerably, yielding an RMSE below 2 dB in most cases. Nonetheless, model performance deteriorated when applied to data with larger spatial and temporal characteristics, with RMSE increasing to ~3 dB. While the Dubois model outperformed the Oh model in terms of empirical adaptability, both models had poor performance at P-band, likely due to the dominance of subsurface scattering. Meanwhile, the AIEM model results were improved substantially at C-, S-, and L-band when calibrated, but its formulation based solely on surface scattering made it unsuitable for application to P-band, where subsurface contributions were considered to be substantial, especially when the surface was dry, and so could not be compensated through conventional roughness parameter adjustments. Overall, while calibration could enhance the performance of these semi-empirical and theoretical models under consistent temporal and spatial conditions, the greater penetration depth at P-band demands a more advanced scattering representation for accurate backscatter simulation.
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