Retrieval of soil moisture in Inner Mongolia using MODIS data and Temperature Vegetation Drought Index (TVDI) method

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2587
Author(s):  
Yan Nie ◽  
Ying Tan ◽  
Yuqin Deng ◽  
Jing Yu

As a basic agricultural parameter in the formation, transformation, and consumption of surface water resources, soil moisture has a very important influence on the vegetation growth, agricultural production, and healthy operation of regional ecosystems. The Aksu river basin is a typical semi-arid agricultural area which seasonally suffers from water shortage. Due to the lack of knowledge on soil moisture change, the water management and decision-making processes have been a difficult issue for local government. Therefore, soil moisture monitoring by remote sensing became a reasonable way to schedule crop irrigation and evaluate the irrigation efficiency. Compared to in situ measurements, the use of remote sensing for the monitoring of soil water content is convenient and can be repetitively applied over a large area. To verify the applicability of the typical drought index to the rapid acquisition of soil moisture in arid and semi-arid regions, this study simulated, compared, and validated the effectiveness of soil moisture inversion. GF-1 WFV images, Landsat 8 OLI images, and the measured soil moisture data were used to determine the Perpendicular Drought Index (PDI), the Modified Perpendicular Drought Index (MPDI), and the Vegetation Adjusted Perpendicular Drought Index (VAPDI). First, the determination coefficients of the correlation analyses on the PDI, MPDI, VAPDI, and measured soil moisture in the 0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm depth layers based on the GF-1 WFV and Landsat 8 OLI images were good. Notably, in the 0–10 cm depth layers, the average determination coefficient was 0.68; all models met the accuracy requirements of soil moisture inversion. Both indicated that the drought indices based on the Near Infrared (NIR)-Red spectral space derived from the optical remote sensing images are more sensitive to soil moisture near the surface layer; however, the accuracy of retrieving the soil moisture in deep layers was slightly lower in the study area. Second, in areas of vegetation coverage, MPDI and VAPDI had a higher inversion accuracy than PDI. To a certain extent, they overcame the influence of mixed pixels on the soil moisture spectral information. VAPDI modified by Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI) was not susceptible to vegetation saturation and, thus, had a higher inversion accuracy, which makes it performs better than MPDI’s in vegetated areas. Third, the spatial heterogeneity of the soil moisture retrieved by the GF-1 WFV and Landsat 8 OLI image were similar. However, the GF-1 WFV images were more sensitive to changes in the soil moisture, which reflected the actual soil moisture level covered by different vegetation. These results provide a practical reference for the dynamic monitoring of surface soil moisture, obtaining agricultural information and agricultural condition parameters in arid and semi-arid regions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuexia Wang ◽  
Yali Chen ◽  
Yulong Yan ◽  
Zhiqiang Wan ◽  
Ran Chao ◽  
...  

The response of soil respiration to simulated climatic warming and increased precipitation was evaluated on the arid–semi-arid Stipa steppe of Inner Mongolia. Soil respiration rate had a single peak during the growing season, reaching a maximum in July under all treatments. Soil temperature, soil moisture and their interaction influenced the soil respiration rate. Relative to the control, warming alone reduced the soil respiration rate by 15.6 ± 7.0%, whereas increased precipitation alone increased the soil respiration rate by 52.6 ± 42.1%. The combination of warming and increased precipitation increased the soil respiration rate by 22.4 ± 11.2%. When temperature was increased, soil respiration rate was more sensitive to soil moisture than to soil temperature, although the reverse applied when precipitation was increased. Under the experimental precipitation (20% above natural rainfall) applied in the experiment, soil moisture was the primary factor limiting soil respiration, but soil temperature may become limiting under higher soil moisture levels.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1763-1779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. McEvoy ◽  
Justin L. Huntington ◽  
Michael T. Hobbins ◽  
Andrew Wood ◽  
Charles Morton ◽  
...  

Abstract Precipitation, soil moisture, and air temperature are the most commonly used climate variables to monitor drought; however, other climatic factors such as solar radiation, wind speed, and humidity can be important drivers in the depletion of soil moisture and evolution and persistence of drought. This work assesses the Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI) at multiple time scales for several hydroclimates as the second part of a two-part study. EDDI and individual evaporative demand components were examined as they relate to the dynamic evolution of flash drought over the central United States, characterization of hydrologic drought over the western United States, and comparison to commonly used drought metrics of the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI), and the evaporative stress index (ESI). Two main advantages of EDDI over other drought indices are that it is independent of precipitation (similar to ESI) and it can be decomposed to identify the role individual evaporative drivers have on drought onset and persistence. At short time scales, spatial distributions and time series results illustrate that EDDI often indicates drought onset well in advance of the USDM, SPI, and SSI. Results illustrate the benefits of physically based evaporative demand estimates and demonstrate EDDI’s utility and effectiveness in an easy-to-implement agricultural early warning and long-term hydrologic drought–monitoring tool with potential applications in seasonal forecasting and fire-weather monitoring.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luomeng Chao ◽  
Zhiqiang Wan ◽  
Yulong Yan ◽  
Rui Gu ◽  
Yali Chen ◽  
...  

Aspects of carbon exchange were investigated in typical steppe east of Xilinhot city in Inner Mongolia. Four treatments with four replicates were imposed in a randomised block design: Control (C), warming (T), increased precipitation (P) and combined warming and increased precipitation (TP). Increased precipitation significantly increased both ecosystem respiration (ER) and soil respiration (SR) rates. Warming significantly reduced the ER rate but not the SR rate. The combination of increased precipitation and warming produced an intermediate response. The sensitivity of ER and SR to soil temperature and air temperature was assessed by calculating Q10 values: the increase in respiration for a 10°C increase in temperature. Q10 was lowest under T and TP, and highest under P. Both ER and SR all had significantly positive correlation with soil moisture. Increased precipitation increased net ecosystem exchange and gross ecosystem productivity, whereas warming reduced them. The combination of warming and increased precipitation had an intermediate effect. Both net ecosystem exchange and gross ecosystem productivity were positively related to soil moisture and negatively related to soil and air temperature. These findings suggest that predicted climate change in this region, involving both increased precipitation and warmer temperatures, will increase the net ecosystem exchange in the Stipa steppe meaning that the ecosystem will fix more carbon.


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