Use of Landsat Thermal-IR Data and GIS in Soil Moisture Assessment

• Published in: Journal of irrigation and drainage engineering Vol. 119; no. 5; pp. 868 - 879
• Main Authors: Shih, Sun F, Jordan, Jonathan D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reston, VA American Society of Civil Engineers 1993
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; agua del suelo; Biological and medical sciences; eau du sol; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gravimetric analysis; Information retrieval systems; Information use; Infrared imaging; Land use; Lysimeters; methode; methods; metodos; Moisture determination; remote sensing; Satellites; Soil science; Soil surveys, classification and mapping; Soil surveys, classification and mapping, soil genesis; soil water; TECHNICAL PAPERS; teledeteccion; teledetection; Temperature measurement; Florida; United States; North America; America; Heat radiation; Soil moisture; Space remote sensing; Satellite observation; Method; Infrared photography; Geographical information system; Land use; Landsat satellite
• ISSN: 0733-9437; 1943-4774
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(1993)119:5(868)

Landsat satellite Thematic Mapper (TM) data were explored as an alternative for monitoring regional soil moisture conditions. The theoretical method of using single daily temperature data sets to estimate root zone soil moisture was tested with ground-based observations. Results indicated that the percentage gravimetric soil moisture content in the 0-24-cm depth was inversely related to the soil surface temperature. A demonstration of Landsat-TM based soil moisture estimation was performed for Lee County in southwestern Florida. The thermal-infrared (IR) data from TM band 6 were overlain onto four principal land-use categories (agricultural/irrigated, urban/clearings, forest/wetlands, water) using a geographic information system (GIS). The thermal-IR data were used to assess four qualitative soil moisture conditions (water/very wet, wet, moist, and dry) within each land-use category. Integration of Landsat thermal-IR data with land-use through GIS under certain conditions may be a useful technique for assessing regional soil moisture conditions, and further research to refine and quantify this technique is recommended.