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Microwave remote sensing of temporal variations of brightness temperature and near‐surface soil water content during a watershed‐scale field experiment, and its application to the estimation of soil physical properties
Author(s) -
Mattikalli Nandish M.,
Engman Edwin T.,
Jackson Thomas J.,
Ahuja Laj R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/98wr00553
Subject(s) - environmental science , water content , soil water , pedotransfer function , soil science , soil texture , hydraulic conductivity , watershed , macropore , hydrology (agriculture) , remote sensing , geology , geotechnical engineering , mesoporous material , biochemistry , chemistry , machine learning , computer science , catalysis
Passive microwave airborne remote sensing was employed to collect daily brightness temperature ( T B ) and near‐surface (0–5 cm depth) soil water content (referred to as “soil water content”) data during June 10–18, 1992, in the Little Washita watershed, Oklahoma. A comparison of multitemporal data with the soils data revealed a direct correlation between changes in T B and soil water content, and soil texture. Regression relationships were developed for the ratio of percent sand to percent clay (RSC) and effective saturated hydraulic conductivity ( K sat ) in terms of T B and soil water content change. Validation of results indicated that both RSC and K sat can be estimated with adequate accuracy. The relationships are valid for the region with small variation of soil organic matter content, soils with fewer macropores, and limiting experimental conditions. However, the findings have potential to employ microwave remote sensing for obtaining quick estimates of soil properties over large areas.