Multiscaling Analysis in Distributed Modeling and Remote Sensing: An Application Using Soil Moisture

Passive and active microwave remote sensing techniques have been developed that provide soil moisture estimates in the first 5 cm or so of the soil column for predominantly bare or sparsely vegetated surfaces. In this chapter the authors explore the multiscaling properties of soil moisture fields for a small basin in Oklahoma, the Little Washita, derived in two ways: from a passive microwave sensor at 200-m resolution; and, output from a distributed energy and water balance model at 30-m grid spacing. During the past 15 years, there has been a steady progression of field experiments that have demonstrated the success of using passive microwave remote sensing for the determination of soil moisture. It is this latter soil moisture product that the authors have used in the analysis presented in this chapter. They could always measure the soil moisture directly in the field without resorting to remote sensing, avoiding the Planck equation entirely, and find that the field is still multiscaling.