A Theoretical Study of the Sensitivity of Spaceborne Bistatic Microwave Systems to Geophysical Parameters of Land Surfaces

A research activity aiming to assess the potential of bistatic measurements of scattered radiation from the land surface is presented. The purpose is to identify the best configuration of a passive system measuring the signal originated by sources of opportunity, like GLASS or radars aboard a satellite. The preliminary result of the study consists of the validation of the electromagnetic model simulating bistatic scattering from bare soil, including the coherent component. A very preliminary sensitivity analysis to soil moisture is also presented.