Joint statistical properties of RMS height and correlation length derived from multisite 1-m roughness measurements

This paper aims to establish the joint roughness statistics for rms height s and correlation length l for agricultural bare soil fields and a variety of tillage conditions. To do so, we make use of a unique pan-European database of profile measurements covering five different sites and containing approximately 1.5 km of profile data. A preliminary assessment of the validity of the derived roughness statistics for electromagnetic scattering models is also carried out by comparing sigma(0) predictions obtained using the integral equation model with derived roughness statistics and European Remote Sensing 1 and 2 (ERS 1/2) synthetic aperture radar observations. The results are then summarized within the overall context of roughness description and we discuss the implications in terms of forward modeling and inversion. The limitations of s and l parameters as roughness descriptors are also underlined.