Precise Measurement Method and Error Analysis with Roughness Variables for Estimation of Scattering Coefficients

The input parameters of scattering models for computing the backscattering coefficients of earth terrains are mainly soil moisture and surface roughness. The backscattering coefficients of soil surfaces are more sensitive to surface roughness than soil moisture. In this study, we propose a precise measurement method for roughness parameters and analyze measurement errors. We measured surface roughness using a pin-board profiler(1 m, 0.5 cm interval) and a laser profiler(1 m, 0.25 cm interval). The measurement differences between two profilers in an average sense are 0.097 cm for root-mean-square (RMS) height and 1.828 cm for correlation length. The analysis of the correlation functions and relative errors shows that the laser measurements are more stable than the pin-board measurements. The differences of the calculated backscattering coefficients using a surface scattering model between pin-board and laser profiler measurements are less than 1 dB.