SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF ARIZONA SOILS AND RANGELANDS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO LANDSAT DIGITAL DATA

Abstract

The relationships between the spectral properties of Arizona soils and rangelands and their characteristics were studied. The per cent reflectance of soils was determined using a multispectral hand-held radiometer, and the spectral response of Arizona rangeland sites was measured by scanners aboard an orbiting satellite. These spectral properties were related, by means of stepwise multiple regressions, to various soil and site characteristics. This research is presented in three chapters. The first chapter describes the relationships between soil properties and their spectral reflectance as determined in a laboratory environment. The second chapter attempts to correlate spectral properties of soils measured with a radiometer and that measured by scanners aboard an orbiting satellite for a small area near Winkelman, Arizona. The third chapter describes the relationships between the properties of 243 rangeland sites in central and southeastern Arizona and Landsat spectral data values. Determinations of Munsell soil colors and the radiometrically measured reflectance of 163 soils led to the development of charts for converting Munsell color to reflectance. Little difference was found between Munsell color measured in the sun and that measured indoors, and on the average, soil scientists were in agreement 80 per cent of the time. Munsell value, organic carbon, carbonates, and Munsell chroma explained 80 per cent of the variability within the reflectance measurements of these soils. The spectral response of the less than 2 mm soil fraction collected from rangeland surfaces was significantly different from the spectral response of coarser fragments collected from the same surface. In the Winkelman area the radiometrically measured reflectance of the less than 2 mm fraction alone accounted for 46 per cent of the variability and the reflectance of the 13 to 76 mm fraction accounted for 17 per cent of the variability within the satellite measured response. This area had a low vegetative cover and soil-geologic features, particularly soil color, correlated best with the Landsat digital data. Seventy-six per cent of the satellite data were explained by the interaction of the per cent coarse fragments times its reflectance, the average slope of the sites and the per cent soil less than 2 mm fraction times its reflectance. The relationship between the properties of 110 rangeland sites in central Arizona and the sum of the four Landsat spectral bands was determined. The sum of brush and forest crown densities, elevation, soil color,Geology of the site, and the per cent of surface covered with cobbles explained 82 per cent of this variation. An evaluation of field measurements only to explain the variability among mapping units showed the sum of brush and forest crown densities, elevation, clay content, and fragments greater than 2 mm explained 67 per cent of this variation. When satellite data were added to the field measurement site characteristics, the ratio of satellite scanner bands 4+5 to 6+7 becomes the most significant factor in explaining the variation among mapping unit symbols and a greater per cent of the variability could be explained. A similar study conducted on 133 sites in southeastern Arizona gave different results as only 41 per cent of the variability could be explained. It was shown that for central and southern Arizona rangelands, it is possible to define specific relationships between site characteristics and satellite measured spectral response. Less than ten site characteristics and their interactions explain considerable portions of the variability between mapping units for a given survey. These relationships are unique for specific locations, but they could easily be developed for a survey area and effectively used in the mapping process.