RADIATIVE-TRANSFER THEORY AT SATELLITE-BORNE SSM I CHANNELS AND REMOTE-SENSING DATA-ANALYSIS/

Vector radiative transfer (VRT) al the SSM/I channels (from 19 to 85 G Hz) for multilayer of discrete scatterers as a model of snowpack/veget ation canopy is developed. Using the physical optics approximation, th e scattering, extinction coefficients and phase function of VRT equati on for vegetation canopy are derived. The dense medium VRT is applied to the snow-layer. Numerical solutions of two coupled VRT equations si mulate scattering and emission signature from snowpack/vegetation cano py al SSM/I channels. Numerical results are applied to simulation and analysis of the SSM/I observations over China's northeast forest and p asture areas in Naqu, Tibet.