Invited Paper

Remote Sensing of Vegetation Water Content using

Shortwave Infrared Reflectances
E. Raymond Hunt, Jr. *,a, M. Tugrul Yilmaz a,b
USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory, Building 007 Room 104,
10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD, USA 20705
b
Earth System and Geoinformation Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA 22030
a

ABSTRACT
Vegetation water content is an important biophysical parameter for estimation of soil moisture from microwave
radiometers. One of the objectives of the Soil Moisture Experiments in 2004 (SMEX04) and 2005 (SMEX05) were to
develop and test algorithms for a vegetation water content data product using shortwave infrared reflectances. SMEX04
studied native vegetation in Arizona, USA, and Sonora, Mexico, while SMEX05 studied corn and soybean in Iowa,
USA. The normalized difference infrared index (NDII) is defined as (R850 - R1650)/(R800 + R1650), where R850 is the
reflectance in the near infrared and R1650 is the reflectance in the shortwave infrared. Simulations using the Scattering by
Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves (SAIL) model indicated that NDII is sensitive to surface moisture content. From Landsat 5
Thematic Mapper and other imagery, NDII is linear with respect to foliar water content with R2 = 0.81. The regression
standard error of the y estimate is 0.094 mm, which is equivalent to about a leaf area index of 0.5 m2 m-2. Based on
modeling the dynamic water flow through plants, the requirement for detection of water stress is about 0.01 mm, so
detection of water stress may not be possible. However, this standard error is accurate for input into the tau-omega
model for soil moisture. Therefore, NDII may be a robust backup algorithm for MODIS as a standard data product.
Keywords: Normalized Difference Infrared Index, Equivalent water thickness, SAIL model, Plant water stress, Soil
Moisture Experiments, MODIS

1. INTRODUCTION
Vegetation water content is an important biophysical parameter for the retrieval of soil moisture content from microwave
data 1,2, and validation of soil moisture algorithms was one of the principal objectives for the Soil Moisture Experiments
in 2002 (SMEX02) in Iowa, USA 2, 2004 (SMEX04) in Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico 3, and 2005 (SMEX05) again
in Iowa, USA 4. If vegetation water content can be estimated independently using reflectances in the shortwave infrared
(SWIR), then the retrievals of soil moisture content will be more accurate. The problem is that SWIR reflectances are
dominated by foliar water content and are not affected by stem water content. However, plants often have allometric
relationships (y = x ) between foliar and stem mass, so estimation of foliar water content from SWIR reflectances
would allow prediction of vegetation water content 4.
Foliar water content (kg m-2) is often divided by the density of liquid water (1000 kg m-3) to derive the equivalent water
thickness (EWT, mm). EWT is useful because the canopy EWT is equal to the leaf EWT multiplied by the leaf area
index (LAI, m2 m-2) 5. Leaf reflectance at 1650 nm wavelength (R1650) increases linearly with respect to leaf reflectance
at 850 nm (R850) for a decrease in leaf EWT 6. Hardisky et al. 7 defined the Normalized Difference Infrared Index
(NDII) as:
NDII = (R850 - R1650)/(R850 + R1650)
which is represented by Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper bands 4 and 5 or MODIS bands 2 and 6, respectively.
* Raymond.Hunt@ars.usda.gov; phone +1 301 504-5278; fax +1 301 504-8931

Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability IV, edited by Wei Gao, Susan L. Ustin,
Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679, 667902, (2007) 0277-786X/07/$18 doi: 10.1117/12.734730

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-1

(1)

Gao 8 defined the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) as:

NDWI = (R850 - R1240)/(R850 + R1240)

(2)

where R1240 is the reflectance at 1240 nm wavelength which is represented by MODIS band 5. Gao 8 has specific
reasons for selecting R1240 over R1650 for calculation of NDWI such as photons at 850 nm and 1240 nm penetrate
similarly into vegetation canopies and have similar atmospheric scattering. However, NDII can be calculated using
imagery from most satellite sensors, whereas NDWI can only obtained using MODIS data, hyperspectral data, and future
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite Systems (NPOESS).
The first objective of this study is to examine how NDII changes with canopy EWT. One of the major limitations to
accurate detection of canopy EWT is the amount of surface moisture (residue or soil), we study these effects using the
Scattering by Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves (SAIL) model 9. If canopy EWT can be estimated with sufficient accuracy,
then perhaps changes in canopy EWT can be detected during drought. Drought affects vegetation by several
mechanisms, such a reduction of growth or senescence of current LAI, which could be detected with vegetation indices
such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) 10. Before a
reduction in LAI, the initial stages of drought cause plant water stress, which is a reduction of water in the leaf as
measured by either leaf relative water content (RWC) or leaf water potential (leaf, MPa) 11. Leaf RWC is equal to leaf
EWT divided by the EWT at full turgor. We use an electric circuit analog model 12 to predict changes of leaf EWT for
levels of drought and compare the changes of leaf EWT to the accuracy of NDII to predict canopy EWT.

3.0

Ceccato et al. 2002

v Davidson et al. 2006
Yilmaz et al. in press

LU
2.0

LJ-+lCCl
nunt ii
SMEXO5 Corn
* SMEXO5 Soybean

SMEXO5 Hardwood

R2= 0.81

s=O.O94mm

vy

I
I

0 o.oL A
I

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...
V

5 U.b I-

->

-0.4

-0.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII)

Fig. 1. Relationship between Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII) and canopy Equivalent Water
Thickness (EWT) for different ecosystems. Landcover types were: grasslands for Ceccato et al. 13
and Davidson et al. 14; various land-cover types in Arizona, USA and Sonora Mexico for Yilmaz
et al. (SMEX05) 3; soybean, corn and deciduous hardwood woodlands for Yilmaz et al.
(SMEX05) 4; and coniferous forests and woodlands for Hunt 5. The regression equation (line) is
canopy EWT = 0.224 + 1.09 NDII.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-2

2. NDII AND CANOPY EWT

Most studies examining the relationship between EWT and SWIR reflectances are made at the leaf level 6. Besides the
data collected during SMEX04 3 and SMEX05 4, three other studies were found where canopy EWT was estimated 5,13,14
For canopy EWT from about 0.0 to about 1.0 mm, NDII was linearly related to canopy EWT (Fig. 1). High values of
canopy EWT (> 1.0 mm) were from coniferous forest stands in Oregon, USA with very high LAI 5, and show that the
NDII-EWT relationship saturates (Fig. 1). Excluding the data from Hunt 5, there were no significant differences among
the various studies based on dummy variable regression.
Based on data from a number of species, leaf EWT varies from 0.15 to 0.25 mm (E. Raymond Hunt, Jr., unpublished
data). Taking 0.20 mm as a reasonable value for leaf EWT, then the standard error of the y estimate of 0.094 mm (Fig.
1) is about equal to an LAI = 0.5 m2 m-2. Therefore, differences in canopy LAI greater than 0.5 m2 m-2 should be
detectable using NDII, when leaf EWT is constant. However, this is a general rule of thumb, because leaf EWT may
have considerable variation within a species depending on growth stage and environmental conditions 4.

E
E

0.6

0.5 Barnes dry

Barnes wet
Codorus dry

( 0 4 Codorus wet
0)

03

_-_
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4- Othello wet
A- New residue dry
A- New residue wet
y- Old residue d
y- Old residue w

S1

j5 0.2 Regression
C
f1

U. I

0.2

Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII)

Fig. 2. SAIL model output of canopy EWT for Leaf Area Index (LAI) from 0.1 to 3.0 m2 m-2. Surface
backgrounds were dry and wet soils and corn residues. The green regression line is from Fig. 1.
There is large variation of NDII at low LAI, which is also seen in Fig. 1.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-3

3. EFFECT OF GROUND SURFACE BACKGROUND

Similar to other vegetation indices 15, it is expected that variation of ground surface reflectance would affect the
relationship between NDII and canopy EWT. Since NDII estimates the amount of SWIR radiation absorbed by liquid
water in the foliage, NDII would also be affected if the ground surface was moist. Hemispherical reflectances were
measured for corn leaves at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center using an Analytical Spectral Devices FieldSpec
Pro Full Range spectroradiometer; immediately afterwards leaf fresh weight, area, and dry weights were measured. Leaf
EWT was 0.19 mm and canopy EWT was calculated from leaf EWT multiplied by LAI. The SAIL model simulations
from LAI of 0.1 to 3.0 m2 m-2 were conducted using background reflectances from wet and dry soils and corn residues 16.
The dark Barnes soil was from Minnesota, USA, whereas the intermediate Codorus soil and light Othello soil were from
Maryland, USA 16. Corn residue were either new (collected from the field 1 week after harvest) or old (collected from
the field 8 months after harvest) 16.
Figure 2 shows large variation of simulated NDII at very low LAI from the variation in ground surface reflectances.
This effect is harder to see in Fig. 1, because the range in EWT is much larger. However the range in NDII at about EWT
of 0 is 0.3 (Fig. 1) and for dry-surface NDII, the range is about 0.35 (Fig. 2). The regression line from the data fit through
the middle of the dry ground surfaces. There is an large increase in NDII for wet ground surfaces because of lower R1650,
except at low LAI for the Barnes and Othello soils, where wetting made the soil darker overall. Wet, new residue had
about the same NDII for all LAI (Fig. 2).

Infrared Index

During SMEX04, NDII for each of the soil moisture validation sites was measured on the ground using a CropScan
MSR16 multispectral sensor; a few sites were measured each day. We compared the ground NDII with the NDII from
atmospherically corrected Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper imagery obtained during SMEX04 3. Most of the points
followed a 1:1 line with scatter of 0.1 NDII (Fig. 3). However, there were 6 points that had much higher ground NDII
compared to the Landsat TM NDII (Fig. 3, circled in red). The day before these 6 sites were measured, a large
convective thunderstorm passed overhead, wetting the ground surface and increasing ground NDII. Therefore, the
wetness of the soil may increase the variation for estimating canopy EWT from satellite NDII. However, most of the
time when the ground surface is wet, there is increased evaporation, which will form clouds obscuring the land surface.
Thus, days that are clear for satellite data acquisition most likely have dry ground surfaces.

w
0
C

a)

a)
S

D
a)

-0.1

S
S

N
a)

-0.2

-1

0.0
0.1
Ground-Normalized Difference Infrared Index

Fig. 3. Relationship between NDII for ground data and Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper imagery during the
SMEX04 experiment. Sites that are circled on lower right had ground NDII measured after a
thunderstorm.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-4

 SMEXO5 corn

VWC

(kgrn)

o SMEXO5 soybean

0 0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

EWr (mm)

Fig. 4. Relationships between total Vegetation Water Content (VWC, kg m-2) and canopy Equivalent
Water Thickness (EWT, mm) for corn and soybean during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2005
4. VEGETATION WATER CONTENT
(SMEX05). An EWT of 1 mm equals a VWC of 1 kg m-2. The R2 for corn is 0.87 and the R2
for soybean is 0.48.

4. VEGETATION WATER CONTENT

Total Vegetation Water Content (VWC) is the sum of the water in the leaves and stems. Soil moisture content can not be
retrieved when VWC is greater than 5 kg m-2 17. During SMEX05, there was a strong linear relationship between VWC
and EWT for corn and soybean (Fig. 4), but not for deciduous hardwood woodlands 4. A linear relationship is an
allometric relationship where the coefficient exponent () has a value of 1.0. With a linear allometric relationship
between VWC and EWT (Fig. 4) and the linear between EWT and NDII (Fig. 1), there is a non-causal linear relationship
between NDII and VWC for corn and soybean. In Fig. 1, the R2 between canopy EWT and NDII for the SMEX05 corn
and soybean data was 0.85. The R2 for regressions between VWC and NDII are similar, 0.89 and 0.87 for corn and
soybean respectively. Whereas the relationships of NDII and EWT for corn and soybean were not significantly different
(P = 0.14 using dummy variable regression), the relationships of NDII and VWC for corn and soybean showed strong
significant differences (P < 0.001; Fig. 4).
The Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02) was also conducted in central Iowa. The data in Fig. 4 from SMEX05
was compared to the data from SMEX02 2. The regressions between NDII and VWC were not significantly different for
corn (P = 0. 13) but were significantly different for soybean (P = 0.04) 4. This indicates that the allometric relationship
between stems and leaves has year-to-year variation in soybean, which could be related to differences in weather
between the two years affecting relative allocation patterns. Thus, future research should use crop and forest growth
models to determine the relationships between leaf area index and stem size. Then the SAIL model can be used to
determine NDII from LAI and soil background information. Then, NDII versus VWC regressions for different landcover classes could be determined for multiple years at multiple locations from the simulation outputs.
Land-cover classification for 2005 was obtained for Iowa from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The
classification accuracy was tested using data collected during SMEX05 and was found to have a 92% overall accuracy.
Based on land cover, NDII was used to determine VWC based on the regressions above. Deciduous hardwood
woodlands did not have a significant regression between NDII and EWT 4, so an average value of 5 kg m-2 was used for

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-5

0.00 0.25
0.25 0.50

0
0

-C

-,
0
C-)

z0

this land-cover class. Whereas the VWC limit for determination of soil moisture content is 5 kg m-2, NDII at these
VWC values for corn was very close to saturation, therefore the VWC limit was set to 4 kg m-2. For 23 June 2005, 12%
of the area had VWC greater than 4 kg m-2 (Fig. 5), which represented the areas of woodlands in the land-cover
classification. However, for 17 July 2005, 35% of the area had VWC greater than 4 kg m-2 because of the growth in corn
(data not shown). Therefore, the NDII-VWC data could be used as a mask for soil moisture retrievals.

2.00 4.00

4.00

0.501.00
Fig. 5. Vegetation Water Contents (kg m-2) over central Iowa during SMEX05. NDII on 23 June 2005 was obtained
from atmospherically corrected AWiFS data and used with the USDA-NASS land-cover classification for
2005. On this date, the areas in cyan represent deciduous hardwood woodlands the occur along streams and
rivers.

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-6

5. DETECTION OF LEAF WATER STRESS

Water flow through plants follows an exact analogy of electrons flowing through a simple electric circuit 12. Charge is
analogous to water volume, voltage is analogous to leaf and soil water potential (leaf, soil), and electron flow is
analogous to water flow resulting from a potential difference. Leaf RWC is defined as the leaf EWT divided by the leaf
EWT at full turgor (assumed to be 0.15 mm), which by definition has leaf = 0 MPa. Generally, RWC at 0.85 to 0.8
corresponds to leaf at about -1.5 MPa. The electric analog model was run for various soil, from 0.0 to -0.5 MPa at 15
minute intervals to determine leaf over a day. From the leaf capacitance, leaf EWT was calculated for the resulting leaf
12
. The same weather data, a summers day in Ames, Iowa, were used to drive stomatal conductance and transpiration.

0.20
0.0

E
E

________

ncL

0.15

\\\

a)

0
- -1.0
a)

)soil -0.3 MPa

Tsoil -0.2 MPa
Osoil -0.1 MPa

qsoil -0.05 MPa

qsoil -0.05 MPa

Tsoil -0.02 MPa

0.00

-2 0 '
0

Tsoil -0.02 MPa

12

Time

16

20

24

28

32

12

Time

16

20

24

28

32

(hours)

(hours)

Fig. 6. Change in (A) leaf water potential (leaf ) and (B) leaf equivalent water thickness (EWT) over a day for
various levels of soil water potential (soil). Transpiration, water flow and leaf were simulated using an
electric circuit analog 12. The changes in leaf EWT are very small and indicate that based on the accuracy
of the NDII-EWT relationship, leaf water stress is not detectable using SWIR reflectances.

In spite of large differences in soil, transpiration, and water flow, differences in leaf, from about 0830 to 1200 hours
were small (Fig. 6a), resulting in very small differences of leaf EWT (Fig. 6b) of about 0.002 mm. Even for LAI of
about 5 m2 m-2, the differences in canopy EWT would be about 0.01 mm, about one-ninth the accuracy estimated in Fig.
1. The difference in canopy EWT between morning and afternoon overpasses of MODIS is about 0.01 mm, so for an
LAI = 5 m2 m-2, a difference of canopy EWT of 0.05 mm is about one-half the accuracy estimated in Fig. 1. Therefore,
detection of plant water stress is unlikely using SWIR-based indices such as NDII. Canopy inversion procedures offer
alternative methods that have potential for detecting leaf water stress in the SWIR 18,19. For detection of water stress by
remote sensing, the reduction in transpiration leads to less loss of latent heat and increased leaf temperatures which can
be detected at multiple scales 20.

6. CONCLUSIONS
The accuracy requirement for detection of leaf water stress is much less than the accuracy for estimating canopy EWT
from NDII (Fig. 1), so it is unlikely that the incipient stages of plant water stress could be detected using shortwave
infrared reflectances. The accuracy requirement for detection of soil moisture content from microwave data is vegetation
water content < 1 kg m-2; so the accuracy in Fig. 1 indicates that vegetation water content can be estimated for soil
moisture content retrievals using microwave data up to the VWC limit defined both by microwave properties and NDII.
A third application of SWIR reflectances is the estimation of fuel moisture content for wildfire potential. Unfortunately,
wildfire models use percent water content on a fresh weight or dry weight basis, so it is uncertain at this time if SWIR

Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6679 667902-7

reflectances will be useful. The relationship between canopy EWT and NDII is affected by soil background reflectances,
particularly if the surface is wet or dry. This may not be a factor in the analysis of actual images, because when the
surface is wet, evaporation of moisture will cause clouds, that the land surface will be masked. Therefore, NDII may be
a robust backup algorithm for MODIS as a standard data product.

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