Moisture Effects on Soil Reflectance

Models of soil reflectance under changing moisture conditions are needed to better quantify soil and vegetation properties from remote sensing. In this study, measurements of reflected shortwave radiation (400–2500 nm) were acquired in a laboratory setting for four different soils at various moisture contents. The observed changes in soil reflectance revealed a nonlinear dependence on moisture that was well described by an exponential model, and was similar for different soil types when moisture was expressed as degree of saturation. Reflectance saturated at much lower moisture contents in the visible and near‐infrared (VNIR) spectral region than in the shortwave‐infrared (SWIR) spectral region, suggesting…

• NS
  National Science Foundation