Utilizing Remote Sensing Landsat 7 Data to Measure Changes in Soil Salinity in Central Valley, CA

Abstract:

Drought in California has had a major impact on agriculture in the Central Valley. A decrease in irrigation and soil moisture creates an increase in soil salinity. The are focused on south of Fresno and north of Bakersfield which is path 42 and row 35. Remote sensing data provided by Landsat 7 ETM+ remote sensing data provides 7 bands of reflection in a 30 meter by 30 meter resolution. Bands reflecting red, near infrared and short-wave infrared are used to produce indices concerning vegetation and soil salinity over 12 years. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) require the red and near infrared. Two soil salinity indices (SI) are calculate one requires red, infrared and short-wave infrared bands, and the other requires green, violet and red bands. Three dates within the 12 years are studied to show changes in the NDVI and SI.