A method to make use of thermal infrared temperature and NDVI measurements to infer surface soil water content and fractional vegetation cover

Abstract A unique relationship between the surface soil moisture availability and the radiant temperature does not exist in the presence of variable vegetation cover. To overcome this ambiguity, the authors present a method which couples a Soil‐Vegetation‐Atmosphere‐Transfer (SVAT) model to satellite derived measurements of surface radiant temperature and Normalized Vegetation Difference Index (NDVI) to ascertain surface soil moisture availability and fractional vegetation cover. Application of the technique is demonstrated for an agricultural area in a Pennsylvania watershed. Results of surface soil moisture availability and fractional vegetation cover are qualitatively realistic but the distribution of soil moisture availability is questionable at high fractional vegetation amounts.