SARSENSE: A C- and L-band SAR rehearsal campaign in Germany in preparation for ROSE-L

In summer 2019 the SARSense campaign was held in Jülich, Germany, to provide insights into the potentials and specifications of the ESA Copernicus candidate mission ROSE-L (Radar Observation System for Europe). ROSE-L will consist of two satellites that carry a polarimetric L-band SAR. Since the L-band signal can penetrate through many natural materials such as vegetation, dry snow and ice, the mission will provide additional information that cannot be gathered by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 C-band SAR mission. The overall objective of the SARSense 2019 campaign is to analyze the mission design concerning its potential for agricultural monitoring services including target applications such as soil moisture monitoring, irrigation management, crop type discrimination, food security and precision farming. The SARSense in situ measurements of soil moisture, soil temperature, vegetation properties, UAS-based multispectral and thermal mapping, as well as the airborne SAR observations are presented as well as strategies for soil moisture retrieval and first analysis.