Using airborne middle-infrared (1.45–2.0 μm) video imagery for distinguishing plant species and soil conditions

This paper describes the use of a black-and-white visible/infrared (0.4–2.4 μm) sensitive video camera, filtered to record radiation within the 1.45–2.0 μm middle-infrared water absorption region, for discriminating among plant species and soil conditions. The camera provided adequate quality airborne imagery that distinguished the succulent plant species onions ( Allium cepum L.) and aloe vera ( Aloe barbadensis Mill.) from nonsucculent plant species. Moreover, wet soil, dry crusted soil, and dry fallow soil could be differentiated in middle-infrared video images. Succulent plants, however, could not be distinguished from wet soil or water. These results show that middle-infrared video imagery has potential use for remote sensing research and applications.