TOWER  (pPMR)

Polarimetric P-Band Multibeam Radiometer

Project Overview 

The Polarimetric P-band Multi-beam Radiometer (PPMR) operate at 0.742-0.752 GHz. PPMR has four antenna beams with 30° beamwidth distributed at angles of ±15° and ±45°.

It is mounted on the ten-meter-high rotating tower to alternatively observe the four quadrants of the paddock. A rotation cycle consists of four positions with different azimuth. Each azimuth position lasts 30 minutes within which the instrument zenith is changed every 10 minutes according to 135°, 142°, and 149°, to produce a range of incidence angles. This four-quadrant paddock has been managed with different roughness and vegetation conditions during different periods for comparison. The furrows in quadrant 1 and 3 have been made perpendicular to the direction along with the radiometer footprint, while those in quadrant 2 are parallel to the footprint direction. This is designed to compare the roughness effects according to azimuth directions.

pPMR Equipment

tower rotation cycle

A two-hour-long tower rotation cycle consists of positions 1) to 4) in order

PLEASE NOTE: The following data sets should be acknowledged According to the following:

TOWER:

Shen, X., Walker, J.P., Ye, N., Wu, X., F. Brakhasi, Boopathi, N., Zhu, L., Yeo, I.Y., Kim, E., Kerr, Y., & Jackson, T. (2022). Evaluation of tau-omega model over bare and wheat-covered flat and periodic soil surfaces at P- and L-band. Remote Sensing of Environment, 273, 112960.

Shen, X., Walker, J.P., Ye, N., Wu, X., F. Brakhasi, Boopathi, N., Zhu, L., Yeo, I.Y., Kim, E., Kerr, Y., & Jackson, T. (2022). Impact of random and periodic surface roughness on P- and L-band radiometry. Remote Sensing of Environment, 269, 112825.

Shen, X., Walker, J.P., Ye, N., Wu, X., Boopathi, N., Yeo, I.Y., Zhang, L., & Zhu, L. (2021). Soil moisture retrieval depth of P- and L-band radiometry: predictions and observations. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 59, 6814-6822.