Viewing China with the ERS-1 WSC data

This paper analyses the distributive characteristic of China land surface backscatter coefficient with ERS-1 WSC data. Results show that China land surface backscatter coefficient image is the synthesis of vegetation map and terrain map. From the image, at the first eye, the vast Takla Makan deserts, the reach to the sky Qingzang plateau, ringlike Chengdu basin, and a chain of undulating southern China kills greet one's eye. Insight into the image, a lot of information can be acquired, for example, the tectonic sketch of China, the distribution of vegetation and deserts. It is a very important source to study the tectonics, the coverage of vegetation, and desertification. The statistical study of the typical terrain shows that using the WSC data could discriminate six types of main land surface coverage including: deserts; Gobi; plateau and basin; mountains; vegetation; and snow-covered field. On the whole, backscatter coefficient sigma(o) value range from -30--5 dB. The lowest value corresponds to desert of Takla Makan, Badain Jaran, Tengger. The highest value corresponds to snow-covered regions of Himalaya mountains and Tianshan mountains.