Soil Moisture and Soil Organic Carbon Remote Sensing: New Models, Opportunities and Identified Sources of Error

Abstract

Soil moisture content (MC) and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) measurement and monitoring are of critical importance for sustaining healthy, productive soils and food producing environments, and for climate change mitigation. In recent years, soil carbon remote sensing has become a popular topic amongst scientists, policy makers, landholders and others, as pragmatic perspectives on climate change, land productivity, and food security become increasingly important. However, more than fifty years of existing research has not provided clarity or consensus on the best soil carbon remote sensing methods. A reliable, widely applicable, robust and cost-effective means of soil carbon modelling remains elusive, as do corresponding methods for optical remote sensing of soil moisture.

This thesis addresses the measurement and monitoring of both soil MC and SOC. It starts with two chapters on remote sensing of SOC, one being a meta-analysis of published SOC papers and models, with the second presenting further discussion and interpretation of the results. Since soil MC can affect the interpretation of SOC measurements, Chapters 5 and 6 address the quantitative modelling of soil MC.