C-Band Radiometric Response to Rainfall Events in the Subtropical Chaco Forest

Abstract

In this paper, multitemporal signatures collected by AMSR-E over the dry forest of Chaco, located in North Argentina, are analyzed. The forest has a biomass of about 100 t/ha and a woody volume of about 120 m3/ha. A clear increase of Polarization Index at C band is observed after intense rain events in two different locations. Simulations of a discrete model attribute this effect to variations of soil moisture, and predict an effect comparable with the measured one. Results indicate that there is a potential to monitor soil moisture variations below dry forests with moderate biomass, also in view of the forthcoming availability of SMOS L band data.