Envisat/asar Vv/hh Backscattering and the Radiation Characteristics of Subarctic Boreal Forest

Surface albedo estimates based on optical and microwave satellite data were compared to corresponding ground based values in a Subarctic boreal forest test site. The ground based albedo values were derived from radiation measurements carried out at the forest floor using an albedo model and measured global and diffuse radiation data. The use of both optical and microwave satellite data turned out to produce more accurate surface albedo estimates than using only optical satellite data. The relative accuracy of the optical/microwave based near infrared and broad band albedo estimation was better than 10% for clear sky cases. The inclusion of microwave data improved the satellite based surface albedo estimation accuracy.