Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
HESS
Articles | Volume 30, issue 15
Articles | Volume 30, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4909-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4909-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 30, issue 15
Research article
 | 
04 Aug 2026
Research article |  | 04 Aug 2026

Field-scale soil moisture retrieval from drone-based L-band radiometry with optical and thermal infrared priors

Zixi Li, Yan Li, Rui Tong, Peizhe Cheng, Fuqiang Tian, and Yao Zhuang

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Short summary
Satellite soil moisture is too coarse and ground measurements are too sparse to describe field conditions. Drone microwave sensing helps fill this gap, but mixed signals from vegetation and surface variability reduce accuracy. We combine drone microwave, optical, and thermal data in a Bayesian framework to improve soil moisture estimates and quantify uncertainty. Field tests in China show higher accuracy, lower bias, and highlight small-scale heterogeneity as a key source of uncertainty.
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