PiSAR-L2 observation of agricultural area damaged by seawater
during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011

Manabu Watanabe; Noriyuki Kawano; Kazuhiro Naoki; Masanobu Shimada

doi:10.1117/12.978929

9 November 2012 PiSAR-L2 observation of agricultural area damaged by seawater during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011

Manabu Watanabe, Noriyuki Kawano, Kazuhiro Naoki, Masanobu Shimada

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8528, Earth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization II; 852814 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.978929
Event: SPIE Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing, 2012, Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake occurred on the eastern coast of Japan. The magnitude 9.0 quake was the most powerful ever recorded in Japan. The height of the tsunami that followed the earthquake was estimated to be more than 10 m. The water reached a few kilometers inland and resulted in thousands of casualties as well as serious damage to buildings and agricultural areas along the coastline. Several PiSAR-L2 observations were carried out in these tsunamiaffected areas from April to September in 2012, and field experiments were performed in agricultural areas that had been damaged by seawater. The complex dielectric constant and the electrical conductivity of the soil were measured to estimate the soil’s salinity. The imaginary part of the dielectric constant for a tsunami-damaged area 0.7 km from the coastline was shown to be 37.1 at 1 GHz, and the electric conductivity was shown to be 7.8 mS/cm. These values exceeded those from non-damaged inland areas. One of the full polarimetric parameters, co-polarization backscattering ratio (σ⁰_HH/σ0_VV) derived from PiSAR-L2 data, were examined and compared for damaged/non-damaged areas. The analysis indicates that the higher-salinity area was well detected by σ⁰_HH/σ0_VV. However, water areas and flat surfaces covered by gravel exhibit similar characteristics, and this may result in the false detection of salt-affected agricultural areas.

Citation Download Citation

Manabu Watanabe, Noriyuki Kawano, Kazuhiro Naoki, and Masanobu Shimada "PiSAR-L2 observation of agricultural area damaged by seawater during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011", Proc. SPIE 8528, Earth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization II, 852814 (9 November 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.978929

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available