High Spatial Resolution Soil Moisture Mapping Using L-band Lobe Differencing Correlation Radiometer and Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems

The Lobe Differencing Correlation Radiometer (LDCR) on a small uncrewed aerial system (sUAS) is developed to map high spatial resolution soil moisture, and its performance had been validated during tens of successful fight sorties. A new calibration method is developed that gain and phase imbalances between the two receiver paths are determined and compensated, and a new calibration source is being built to provide a stable reference temperature for in-flight calibration. The LDCR was integrated into two sUAS platforms, one is fixed wing and the other one is multirotor. Flight altitude from a few meters to hundreds of meters can be achieved using these two sUAS platforms to fulfill various spatial resolution requirements. The soil moisture mapping algorithm had been further developed and the soil salinity and slope angle will be included and compensated in the retrieval algorithm.