405 
CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVES 
ERS-1 wind-scatterometer data were use to derive monthly global backscattering coefficient images at different 
incidence angles. In addition, spatial and temporal variations of the radar echo were analysed as a function of 
typical vegetation formations. These preliminary results show that, at the scale considered, the backscattering 
coefficient is sensitive to vegetation parameters, soil moisture content and topography. Temporal signatures 
exist and are well pronounced. Present studies are carried out to confirm the capability of ERS-1 scatterometer 
data for global vegetation monitoring. This will be performed in connection with low resolution optical data 
such as the Global Vegetation Index. 
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
We are indebted to Pascal Lecomte from ESA/ESRIN for making available to us the ERS-1 wind scatterometer 
data used in the present study. The GVT data set was kindly provided by GRID, Geneva.