Chapter 20
Remote Sensing of Leaf, Canopy, and Vegetation
Water Contents for Satellite Environmental
Data Records
E. Raymond Hunt Jr., Susan L. Ustin, and David Rian ˜o
Abstract The absorption features of liquid water in plant leaves are readily
detectable, and the amount of leaf water content may be determined by spectroscopy. Spectral reflectances at about 1240 and 1650 nm are the basis of numerous
remote-sensing indices that could be used to estimate liquid water content of leaves
and canopies. Two applications of remotely sensed water content are estimation of
fuel moisture content for wildfire potential and estimation of vegetation water
content for improving retrievals of soil moisture content from microwave sensors.
The temporal record of MODIS, SPOT Vegetation, and AVHRR/3 sensors and the
future record from VIIRS will create a global environmental data record of canopy
water content for climate change studies.
Keywords Drought • Soil moisture content • Plant water stress • Wildfire potential • Fuel moisture content • Spectroscopy • Vegetation indices • Model inversion
E.R. Hunt Jr. (*)
USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Bldg 007 Room 104 BARC-West,
10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
e-mail: Raymond.Hunt@ars.usda.gov
S.L. Ustin
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis,
CA 95616, USA
e-mail: SLUstin@ucdavis.edu
D. Rian ˜o
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis,
CA 95616, USA
Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Cientı ´ficas (CSIC), Madrid 28037, Spain
e-mail: driano@ucdavis.edu
J.J. Qu et al. (eds.), Satellite-based Applications on Climate Change,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5872-8_20, # Springer (outside the USA) 2013
335
Remote Sensing of Leaf, Canopy, and Vegetation
Water Contents for Satellite Environmental
Data Records
E. Raymond Hunt Jr., Susan L. Ustin, and David Rian ˜o
Abstract The absorption features of liquid water in plant leaves are readily
detectable, and the amount of leaf water content may be determined by spectroscopy. Spectral reflectances at about 1240 and 1650 nm are the basis of numerous
remote-sensing indices that could be used to estimate liquid water content of leaves
and canopies. Two applications of remotely sensed water content are estimation of
fuel moisture content for wildfire potential and estimation of vegetation water
content for improving retrievals of soil moisture content from microwave sensors.
The temporal record of MODIS, SPOT Vegetation, and AVHRR/3 sensors and the
future record from VIIRS will create a global environmental data record of canopy
water content for climate change studies.
Keywords Drought • Soil moisture content • Plant water stress • Wildfire potential • Fuel moisture content • Spectroscopy • Vegetation indices • Model inversion
E.R. Hunt Jr. (*)
USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Bldg 007 Room 104 BARC-West,
10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
e-mail: Raymond.Hunt@ars.usda.gov
S.L. Ustin
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis,
CA 95616, USA
e-mail: SLUstin@ucdavis.edu
D. Rian ˜o
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis,
CA 95616, USA
Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Cientı ´ficas (CSIC), Madrid 28037, Spain
e-mail: driano@ucdavis.edu
J.J. Qu et al. (eds.), Satellite-based Applications on Climate Change,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5872-8_20, # Springer (outside the USA) 2013
335