Topographic Effects on the Surface Emissivity of a Mountainous Area Observed by a Spaceborne Microwave Radiometer

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 effects are negligible, and Ka band are analyzed. The results indicate that the changes in the local observation angle tend to lower the apparent emissivity of a radiometric pixel with respect to the corresponding flat surface characteristics. The effect of the rotation of the polarization plane enlarges (vertical polarization), or attenuates (horizontal polarization) this decrease. By doing some simplifying assumptions for the radiometer antenna, the conclusion is that the microwave emissivity at vertical polarization is underestimated, whilst the opposite occurs for horizontal polarization, except for Ka band, for which both under- and overprediction may occur. A quantification of the differences with respect to a flat soil and an approximate evaluation of their impact on soil moisture retrieval are yielded.