Author(s)

Abba Aliyu Kasim^*, Abubakar Aminu Usman

Department of Soil Water, Land Engineering & Management, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Allahabad, India.

Soil surface wetness is indispensable land surface parameter in agriculture, hydrology and environmental engineering. This paper explores the relationship between surface radiant temperature and fractional vegetation cover derived from satellite imagery to estimate soil surface wetness (triangle method) in Allahabad district. The pixel distributions create triangular shapes because the range of surface radiant temperature decreases as the amount of vegetation cover increases and sufficient number of pixels exists. A very weak correlation is found between the simulated soil surface wetness and ground measured soil moisture at deeper soil layers (R² < 0.15) on all the dates under investigation. This is because the drying rates at the surface discontinue to be linearly correlated to that at lower levels (depths). The standing water pixels distort the shape of the triangle especially at lower left edge of the triangle. This distortion is removable. The spatial and temporal inhomogeneity of soil surface wetness is examined.

Triangle Method, Soil Surface Wetness, Surface Radiant Temperature, Fractional Vegetation Cover

Kasim, A. and Usman, A. (2016) Triangle Method for Estimating Soil Surface Wetness from Satellite Imagery in Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 4, 84-92. doi: 10.4236/gep.2016.41010.