The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will be launched in the second half of 2009. It will be the first L-band (~1.4 GHz) passive microwave satellite specifically designed for global soil moisture observations, with an expected accuracy for the retrieved soil moisture of ~0.04 m/m. While passive microwave observations have been widely...

Soil physical properties have an important role on vegetation growththrough affecting the development of root system. The aim of this study was toinvestigate the trampling effect of livestock grazing on soil physical properties andvegetation cover changes. The experiment was conducted on three range conditionsites (Reference, Key and Critical area) with ten frequencies in HosseinabadeKudistan i...

We studied the impacts of re-vegetation on soil moisture dynamics and evapotranspiration (ET) of five land cover types in the Loess Plateau in northern China. Soil moisture and temperature variations under grass (Andropogon), subshrub (Artemisia scoparia), shrub (Spiraea pubescens), plantation forest (Robinia pseudoacacia), and crop (Zea mays) vegetation were continuously monitored during the g...

This paper presents a microwave/optical synergistic methodology to retrieve soil moisture in an alpine prairie. The methodology adequately represents the scattering behavior of the vegetation-covered area by defining the scattering of the vegetation and the soil below. The Integral Equation Method (IEM) was employed to determine the backscattering of the underlying soil. The modified Water Clou...

Soil moisture is an important factor for vegetation restoration and ecosystem sustainability in the Loess Plateau of China. The strong spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture is controlled by many environmental factors, including topography and land use. Moreover, the spatial patterns and soil hydrological processes depend on the scale of the site being investigated, which creates a challenge fo...

Most meteorological soil moisture budgets do not account for soil moisture stress changes in the drying cycle or for changes in ground cover or expanding root system. A simple modulated technique is described which considers these factors. Soil moisture stress determined by this technique has a significantly higher correlation with wheat yield than does moisture stress determined by R common me...

Many agricultural fields across the country have a high degree of variability in soil type and water holding capacity that affects irrigation management. One way to overcome problems associated with the field variability for improving irrigation management is to utilize a site-specific irrigation system. This system applies water to match the needs of individual management zones within a field....

this study was carried out to investigate the effective environmental factors in the distribution of vegetation in zirkouh rangelands of qaen. after delimitation of the study area, sampling of soil and vegetation were performed using randomized- systematic method. vegetation cover was recorded by using braun-blanquet combined abundance-cover scale in each sample. within each sample, one profile...