This study demonstrates that ERS-1 SAR data is useful for
several land applications. The preliminary calibration results
indicate that across-swath variation in calibration offset is
less than 3 dB as a consequence of antenna gain, R4 losses
and variation in Ai. The calibrated ERS-1 data for a single
date in midsummer shows that limited discrimination and
classification of land-cover categories are possible by machine
processing. Such techniques need to account for fading by
using appropriate filtering. The ERS-1 backscattering from
forested areas is dominated by properties of the crown layer
consisting of foliage and branches. Furthermore, ERS-1 SAR
is sensitive to near-surface soil moisture for grass-covered
soils, and soil moisture retrievals are possible. Finally, the
multitemporal availability of ERS-1 SAR data holds exciting
prospects for enhancing discrimination of vegetated regions
by monitoring the seasonal changes in crown layer moisture
and structure and for monitoring changes in near-surface soil
moisture within regions of low biomass.