Topographic Effects on the Surface Emissivity of a Mountainous Area Observed by a Spaceborn.pdfVIP

Sensors 2008, 8, 1459-1474 sensors ISSN 1424-8220 © 2008 by MDPI /sensors Full Research Paper Topographic Effects on the Surface Emissivity of a Mountainous Area Observed by a Spaceborne Microwave Radiometer Luca Pulvirenti *, Nazzareno Pierdicca and Frank S. Marzano Department of Electronic Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy; E-mails: pulvirenti@die.uniroma1.it, pierdicca@die.uniroma1.it, marzano@die.uniroma1.it * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pulvirenti@die.uniroma1.it, Received: 23 January 2008 / Accepted: 27 February 2008 / Published: 3 March 2008 Abstract: A simulation study to understand the influence of topography on the surface emissivity observed by a satellite microwave radiometer is carried out. We analyze the effects due to changes in observation angle, including the rotation of the polarization plane. A mountainous area in the Alps (Northern Italy) is considered and the information on the relief extracted from a digital elevation model is exploited. The numerical simulation refers to a radiometric image, acquired by a conically-scanning radiometer similar to AMSR-E, i.e., flying at 705 km of altitude with an observation angle of 55°. To single out the impact on surface emissivity, scattering of the radiation due to the atmosphere or neighboring elevated surfaces is not considered. C and X bands, for which atmospheric effe