Estimating soil moisture condition of paddy fields by using optical remote sensing imagery

Abstract

Abstract Soil moisture is essential in monitoring agricultural lands, particularly in Jember, East Java which serves as one of Indonesian rice-producing regions. Scarcity of information related to the environment crucial to rice planting is evident. This includes detailed growth phase and soil moisture, where their estimation could be done through exploiting remote sensing data. This study aims to estimate soil moisture condition on paddy fields in selected study areas by applying Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS data, acquired in 2021. Thermal band of Landsat 8 was utilized to derive the Soil Moisture Index (SMI). This study also investigated the variation of vegetation index (studied using NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) as parameters related to soil moisture conditions. Paddy fields in the study area were dominated by moderate soil moisture levels, with average SMI of 0.47, NDVI=0.45, and about 22°C temperature. The SMI ranged from 0.21 to 0.65. The low SMI values indicate low vegetation density and high surface temperature in paddy lands. This research suggested that SMI from Landsat 8 could serve as an efficient approach in monitoring soil moisture condition and understanding its correlation to surface temperature and vegetation condition in agricultural areas, particularly paddy fields.