Preliminary Study for Soil Moisture Detection in Salt Flats Using Remote Sensing Techniques

José Manuel Lattus, and Cynthia Leal

Escuela de Geología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile

Abstract: The moisture index in multispectral images of medium resolution (Landsat, Aster, Sentinel2), is designed to study the humidity of the vegetation. This index would be very useful if it represented the soil moisture. So, its response was analyzed in arid areas, particularly in the humidity of a salt flat in the middle of the desert. The analysis of water bodies over time gives us information about areas that may have different degrees of humidity and it is in those areas where the moisture index (NDMI) also responds positively to soil moisture.

Key words: remote sensing, moisture, salt flat, sentintel-2