Estimation of root-zone soil moisture using crop water stress index (CWSI) in agricultural fields

Akuraju, V R and Ryu, D and George, B (2021) Estimation of root-zone soil moisture using crop water stress index (CWSI) in agricultural fields. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 58 (3). pp. 340-353. ISSN 1943-7226

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Abstract

Due to the limited availability of Root-Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM) information at the regional scale, this paper explores the use of thermal infrared remote sensing to estimate RZSM in agricultural fields. This study presents the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) derived from thermal infrared data used as an indicator to estimate root zone soil moisture. Theoretical limits were calculated using canopy and air temperature difference, which is related to vapor pressure deficit. An empirical model was developed using continuous remotely sensed optical, thermal infrared data with limited meteorological data collected from a wheat site, the Dookie experimental farm, Victoria, Australia during 2012 and 2013. Linear and exponential models predicting RZSM using CWSI were constructed and compared in two different cropping seasons. Cross-validation results demonstrate that the linear model predicted RZSM with an error of 3.9% in 2012 and 5.3% in 2013 cropping seasons. The proposed method is applied to another root-zone soil moisture dataset collected during 2002–04 cropping seasons from a corn field site in the Optimizing Production Inputs for Economic and Environmental Enhancement (OPE3) site in the USA. Validation results showed that the model produces reasonable RZSM estimates, except for the high rainfall distribution during cropping seasons even though the crop types of the calibration and validation sites were different. The efficacy of canopy temperature in RZSM estimations was demonstrated using Dookie and OPE3 RZSM dataset. The potential limitation is that sparse vegetation in the initial growth stages produces negative values in CWSI due to the dominant soil surface. Overall, the results support the potential role of the theoretical crop water stress index in root-zone soil moisture estimations.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Global Research Program - Resilient Farm and Food Systems
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Crop water stress index, root-zone soil moisture, thermal infrared, net radiation
Subjects:	Others > Agriculture Others > Soil Others > Water Resources
Depositing User:	Mr Nagaraju T
Date Deposited:	07 May 2025 04:10
Last Modified:	07 May 2025 04:10
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/13065
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15481...
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	The authors would like to thank the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) for sponsoring the research under the John Allwright Fellowship. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from Robert Pipunic and Rodger Ian Young in data collection in Dookie experimental site. We are also thankful to USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory for providing the extensive OPE3 dataset.
Links:	Google Scholar

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