SOIL-WATER PREDICTION ON THE KONZA PRAIRIE BY MICROWAVE REMOTE-SENSING AND TOPOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES

The spatial variation in surface soil water content is examined by analysis of field and remotely sensed measurements and surface topography. Brightness temperature, surface soil water content and topographic attributes are compared during an 8 day period, following a 60 mm rain storm over a catchment in the Konza Prairie, Kansas. Microwave remote sensing was capable of measuring the overall drying trend of the surface soil but the utility of the data was limited by problems in registration. The spatial distribution of soil water content was not well predicted by simple static topographic attributes or microwave remote sensing.