This research examines the simultaneous retrieval of surface soil moisture and salt concentrations using hyperspectral reflectance data in an arid environment. We conducted laboratory and outdoor field experiments in which we examined three key soil variables: soil moisture, salt and texture (silty loam, clay and silty clay). The soil moisture content models for multiple textures (M_SMC models)...

A major contributor to degradation on rangelands in the western United States is the expansion of undesirable annual weeds following wildfire or other disturbance. The Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) model was applied to three soil types (loamy sand, sandy loam, and silt loam) to simulate near-surface soil temperature and water for predicting potential seed germination in post-wildfire reveg...

Soil moisture is an important environmental variable in regulating energy fluxes and water infiltration near the soil surface. This makes it a significant parameter in meteorological and climate modelling applications. While ground measurement of soil moisture at a large spatial scale is cumbersome and time-consuming, remote sensing offers the advantage of frequent observations in time and spac...

application of soil conditioners for remediation of saline- sodic soils is one of the common methods for improving soil properties in arid and semi-arid regions. in order to study the effect of soil conditioners on retention of soil moisture content, an experiment was carried out based on randomized complete block design with three replications in a saline-sodic sandy clay loam soil. the treatm...

Sensitivity analysis is critically needed to better understand the microwave emission model for soil moisture retrieval using passive microwave remote sensing data. The vegetation b-factor along with vegetation water content and surface characteristics has significant impact in model prediction. This study evaluates the sensitivity of the b-factor, which is function of vegetation type. The anal...

Automated electronic soil moisture sensors, such as time domain reflectometry (TDR) and capacitance probes are being used extensively to monitor and measure soil moisture in a variety of scientific and land management applications. These sensors are often used for a wide range of soil moisture applications such as drought forage prediction or validation of large-scale remote sensing instruments...

Field measurement of soil moisture is undertaken traditionally using point based measurement techniques such as neutron probes or time domain reflectrometry (TDR). Recently, a new technique has been developed that can be used to derive soil moisture at larger spatial scales by measuring neutrons that are generated by cosmic rays within the air and soil, and emitted back into the atmosphere. A ...

[1] Soil moisture content on a horizontal scale of hectometers and at depths of decimeters can be inferred from measurements of low-energy cosmic-ray neutrons that are generated within soil, moderated mainly by hydrogen atoms, and diffused back to the atmosphere. These neutrons are sensitive to water content changes, but largely insensitive to variations in soil chemistry, and their intensity a...

Soil aggregate stability is an essential soil property, influencing many soil behaviors. However, the relationships between drying and wetting cycles and aggregate stability dynamics with different initial aggregate size classes have not been clarified. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of drying and wetting cycles on aggregate stability under different breakdown mechanisms, a...

The purpose of this research has been to identify relationships between soil moisture and the growth and development of microorganisms, their diversity and the activity of soil enzymes. Four soils with different texture were analysed. Air-dry soils were watered up to the moisture content corresponding to 20, 40 and 60% of the maximum water capacity (MWC) and subsequently were submitted to deter...