Spectral estimation of soil water content in visible and near infra-red range

Soils can be examined on the basis of spectral data, using such methods with which the reflected radiation can be divided into a large number of (several hundreds) small spectral channel. The examined soil samples were coming from different apple orchards of which soils had different physical characteristics (sandy loamy and clay). The goals of my experiments were the evaluation of spectral measurement method for soil content detection, and to carry out algorithms for fast field scale spectral evaluation of different soil water content. The most water sensitive spectral ranges were selected by principal component, and such algorithms were created, with which the water content can be detectable in the certain soil. These results can also be utilizable in precision water management, since it can be a basis for such integrated active sensors with LED or laser light source, measuring reflectance at the certain spectral range, which can facilitate real time water status assessment of orchards.