Characterization of atmospheric precipitation effects on spaceborne synthetic aperture radar response at X, Ku, Ka band

Space-borne X-band synthetic aperture radars (SARs) provide a unique opportunity to measure rainfall over land with unsurpassed spatial resolution of about few hundred meters. This work explores the potential of space-borne X-SARs to estimate rainfall over land from both a model and retrieval point of view. The main objective is to provide a framework for a physically-based inversion of SARs measurements at X (9.6 GHz), Ku (14 GHz) and Ka (30 GHz) band over land. A forward model of SAR response will be illustrated for X, Ku and Ka bands. We will present an inversion methodology, a quantitative application to XSAR data of the SIR-C mission in 1994, and a qualitative application to TerraSAR-X data over France, 2008.