Estimating soil moisture based on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data
remains challenging due to the influences of vegetation and surface
roughness. Here we present an algorithm that simultaneously retrieves
soil moisture, surface roughness and vegetation water content by jointly
using high-resolution Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 multispectral
imagery, with an application directed towards the provision of
information at the precision agricultural scale. Sentinel-2-derived
vegetation water indices are investigated and used to quantify the
backscatter resulting from the vegetation canopy. The proposed algorithm
then inverts the water cloud model to simultaneously estimate soil
moisture and surface roughness by minimizing a cost function constructed
by model simulations and SAR observations. To examine the performance
of VV- and VH-polarized backscatters on soil moisture retrievals, three
retrieval schemes are explored: a single channel algorithm using VV
(SCA-VV) and VH (SCA-VH) polarizations and a dual channel algorithm
using both VV and VH polarizations (DCA-VVVH). An evaluation of the
approach using a combination of a cosmic-ray soil moisture observing
system (COSMOS) and Soil Climate Analysis Network measurements over
Nebraska shows that the SCA-VV scheme yields good agreement at both the
COSMOS footprint and single-site scales. The features of the algorithms
that have the most impact on the retrieval accuracy include the
vegetation water content estimation scheme, parameters of the water
cloud model and the specification of initial ranges of soil moisture and
roughness, all of which are comprehensively analyzed and discussed.
Through careful consideration and selection of these factors, we
demonstrate that the proposed SCA-VV approach can provide reasonable
soil moisture retrievals, with RMSE ranging from 0.039 to 0.078 m3/m3 and R2 ranging from 0.472 to 0.665, highlighting the utility of SAR for application at the precision agricultural scale.