Ej. Burke et al., The comparison of two models that determine the effects of a vegetation canopy on passive microwave emission, HYDROL E S, 3(3), 1999, pp. 439-444
Two contrasting models are used to account for the effects of vegetation on
microwave emission from the soil. These are: a simple model which requires
two empirically derived parameters as input data (optical depth and single
scattering albedo); and a complex discrete model which requires a detailed
description of all of the components of the vegetation canopy. Both models
account effectively for the vegetation, although the simple model takes a
fraction of the computation time compared to the discrete model. However, t
he simple model was fitted to the data, whereas the discrete model used mea
sured parameters as input. In addition to predicting the microwave brightne
ss temperature, the discrete model also calculates the optical depth and si
ngle scattering albedo. These calculated values were in agreement with thos
e fitted using the simple model. Therefore, it is suggested that the discre
te model could be used to calculate the input parameters for the simple mod
el.