Modelling electrical conductivity of soil from backscattering coefficient of microwave remotely sensed data using artificial neural network

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the main agricultural problems which expand to larger areas. Soil scientists categorize salinity level by electrical conductivity (EC) measurement. However, field measurements of EC require extensive time, cost and experiences. Remote sensing is one suitable option to investigate and collect spatial data in larger areas. Many researches estimated soil moisture through microwave, but there are fewer studies which mentioned about direct relationship between EC and backscattering coefficient (BC). Thus, this study aims to propose the estimation of EC directly from BC of microwave. The relationship between EC obtained from field survey and BC from microwave is non-linear, artificial neural network (ANN) is one technique proposed in this study to figure out EC and BC relationship. ANN uses multilayer of interconnected processing resulting in EC value with high accuracy which is acceptable. For this reason, ANN model can be successfully utilized as an effective tool for EC estimation from microwave.

Keywords:

• soil salinity
• ALOS/PALSAR
• microwave remote sensing
• electrical conductivity
• backscattering coefficient

Acknowledegments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Suan Sunandha Rajabht University, Thailand, for providing financial support to this research.