Operational Retrieval of Surface Soil Moisture using Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery in a Semi-arid Environment [Elektronische Ressource] / Lu Dong. Betreuer: Ralf Ludwig

Operational Retrieval of Surface Soil Moisture using Synthetic Aperture Ra-dar Imagery in a Semi-arid Environment Dissertation an der Fakultä t fü r Geowissenschaften der Ludwig Maximilians Universitä t Mü nchen Vorgelegt von: Lu Dong Eingereicht: 10.10.2011 Gedruckt mit Unterstü tzung des Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Karsten Schulz thTag der mündlichen Prüfung: 19 December 2011 II Abstract Within the context of the FP7 project CLIMB, according to various climate change sce-narios the Mediterranean region will suffer further from higher temperature and less precipitation during the summer, on top of already dry and hot periods for the region. This climatic trend means a higher water usage projection for both urban and agricul-tural purposes in this already water scarce region. Suitable strategy and management for water usage is important for sustainable agricultural development. In this respect, good irrigation management is helpful for crops growing during summer. For this purpose, surface soil moisture information can be utilised for parameterising hydrological models.