Application of TIR Imagery and Spectroscopy for the Extraction of Soil Textural Information at Fowlers Gap, Western New South Wales, Australia

Previous laboratory studies suggest that simple ASTER band ratios could predict soil texture, independent of mineralogy. In this study, ASTER and TIMS thermal image- and FTIR-derived soil particle indices were compared to field samples from Fowlers Gap in western New South Wales, Australia. Laboratory studies on field samples showed a similar relationship between texture and thermal band ratios however a mineral bias, or at least an association with quartz content, was observed. The spatial pixel resolution of the thermal imagery was also observed to be a significant issue within a heterogeneous landscape. However, three meter pixel resolution TIMS imagery appeared to provide qualitative soil and sediment textural related information using such band ratio methods at Fowlers Gap.