Microwave remote sensing systems have shown
great potential in spatial soil moisture estimation for
crop yield fluctuation forecasting at regional and
global scale. Spaceborne active microwave sensors,
synthetic aperture radar (SAR), are able to provide
high spatial resolution (up to 10 m), but have low
temporal resolution and are more sensitive to surface
characteristics than passive microwave sensors.
However, passive microwave sensors (radiometers)
provide low spatial resolutions (20 to 50 km) with a
higher temporal resolution (12 to 24 hrs). The low
resolution information of soil moisture and vegetation
anomalies at global scale is critical for large-scale crop
yield monitoring and forecasting, which is needed, for
example for food crisis management. High spatial
resolution data from active microwave sensors have
larger application in the agricultural field through
precision farming, where crop growth and production
is highly dependent on available surface soil moisture
at small scales [5, 14]. Also high resolution imagery
can be very useful in assessing water fees and
establishing an equitable access to water resources.