Soil Mapping and Classification

in Google Earth Engine

Day 1:
Remote Sensing Indices
Juliette Bateman (she/her)
Remote Sensing Specialist/Trainer,
[email protected]

Lila Leatherman (they/them)

Remote Sensing Specialist/Trainer
[email protected]

Geospatial Technology and Applications Center | GTAC

USDA Forest Service
 Housekeeping

 Keep video off, stay on mute

 If you have questions:
 Raise your “hand” in Teams
 Respond in chat box
 Take care of your body!

06/06/2024 2
 Day 1 Agenda

 Afternoon
 14:00-14:30 – Presentation: Remote sensing indices
 14:30-15:00 – Demonstration: (Exercise 2) Creating vegetation,
indices, geologic indices, and spectral transformations
 15:00-16:00 – Q & A and Exercise Help

06/06/2024 3
 Outline
 Review of spectral bands
 Band Combinations
 What are they?
 Why are they used?
 Band Ratios
 What are they?
 Why are they used?
 Image Transformations
 What are they?
 Tasseled cap transformation
 Relevant RS Examples

06/06/2024 4
 Learning Objectives

 Develop understanding of significance of spectral bands

in relation to remote sensing indices
 Understanding concepts of band combinations, band
ratios, band math, and image transformations
 Demonstrate understanding of how to use various
remote sensing indices for different RS applications

06/06/2024 5
Bands
• Parts of the EMS where sensors record data
• Specifications are sensor specific
 Bands
 RS sensors can collect
data in all portions of the
EM spectrum
 Multispectral sensors
have spectral sensitivity
limitations (spectral
resolution)
 The wavelength ranges
recorded by sensors are
called bands or
“channels”, varies with
sensor
06/06/2024 7
 Bands

 Landsat collects data in 11 “channels”

throughout the EM spectrum

Figure reference
06/06/2024 8
 Landsat 8 Spectral Bands
Landsat 8 Operational Land Image (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)
Band Wavelength Useful for mapping
Band 1 - coastal aerosol 0.43-0.45 Coastal and aerosol studies
Band 2 - blue 0.45-0.51 Bathymetric mapping, distinguishing soil from vegetation and deciduous from
coniferous vegetation

Band 3 - green 0.53-0.59 Emphasizes peak vegetation, which is useful for assessing plant vigor

Band 4 - red 0.64-0.67 Discriminates vegetation slopes

Band 5 - Near Infrared (NIR) 0.85-0.88 Emphasizes biomass content and shorelines

Band 6 - Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) 1 1.57-1.65 Discriminates moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds

Band 7 - Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) 2 2.11-2.29 Improved moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds

Band 8 - Panchromatic 0.50-0.68 15 meter resolution, sharper image definition

Band 9 - Cirrus 1.36-1.38 Improved detection of cirrus cloud contamination

Band 10 - TIRS 1 10.60-11.19 100 meter resolution, thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture

Band 11 - TIRS 2 11.50-12.51 100 meter resolution, improved thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture

06/06/2024
Table reference 9
Band Combinations
• Used to display remote sensing imagery
• True and false color composites display different bands in EMS\
• Different combination for different applications
 Band Combinations
 When you display a
remote sensing
image on a
computer, you are
limited to 3 bands
 This is what
produces true color
composites and false
color composites

Figure reference
06/06/2024 11
 True Color Composite
RGB = RED, GREEN, BLUE

Figure reference
06/06/2024 12
 Landsat 8 True Color Composite

06/06/2024 13
 False Color Composite

 Images displayed using any bands other than RGB

(true color)
 Allows users to visualize wavelengths that the
human eye cannot see
 Many different combinations, depending on the
application

06/06/2024 14
 False Color Composite

06/06/2024 15
 Landsat 8 True Color Composite

06/06/2024 16
 Band Combinations for Landsat 8

Composite Name Bands

Natural Color 432

False Color (urban) 764

Common Color Infrared (vegetation) 543
Landsat TM Agriculture 652
Band Healthy Vegetation 562
Combinations Land/Water 564

Natural With Atmospheric Removal 753

Shortwave Infrared 754

Vegetation Analysis 654

06/06/2024 17
Band Ratios
• Simple RS indices calculated using basic band math
• Used to enhance spectral differences between bands
• More complex algorithms also exist
 Band Ratios

 A simple spectral index that is calculated by dividing

one band by another (band math)
 Used to enhance the spectral differences between
bands
 Especially useful when identifying land types

06/06/2024 19
 Band Ratios

 The spectral
signature of
healthy
vegetation has
clear peaks and
troughs
captured in
sensor bands

06/06/2024 20
 Band Ratios:
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
 These
indices
allow us to
distinguish
between
healthy and
unhealthy
vegetation

06/06/2024 21
 Band Ratios:
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
 The NDVI
for healthy
vegetation
is different
than
unhealthy
vegetation

06/06/2024 22
 Band Ratios:
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
 The NDVI
for healthy
vegetation
is different
than
unhealthy
vegetation

06/06/2024 23
 NDVI Example

06/06/2024 24
 Common Remote Sensing Indices:
Vegetation
Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application
NDVI ((NIR - Red)/(NIR + Red)) Standardized index to generate an
(Normalized Difference Vegetation image displaying greenness (relative
Index) biomass)
SAVI ((NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red + L)) x Vegetation index that attempts to
(Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index) (1 + L) minimize soil brightness influences.
L = amount of green veg. cover
VARI (Green - Red)/ (Green + Red - Emphasized vegetation in the visible
(Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index) Blue) portion of the spectrum, while
mitigating illumination differences
and atmospheric effects

06/06/2024
Table reference 26
 Common Remote Sensing Indices:
Water
Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application
NDSI (Green - SWIR) / (Green + Identifies snow cover while ignoring
(Normalized Difference Snow Index) SWIR) cloud cover. Designed for MODIS
and Landsat data.
MNDWI (Green - SWIR) / (Green + Enhances open water features.
(Modified Normalized Difference Water index) SWIR)
NDMI (NIR - SWIR1)/(NIR + Sensitive to moisture levels in
(Normalized Difference Moisture Index) SWIR1) vegetation. Used to monitor
droughts and fuel levels in fire prone
areas.

06/06/2024
Table reference 27
 Common Remote Sensing Indices:
Landscape
Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application
BAI 1/((0.1 -RED)^2 + (0.06 - NIR)^2) Identify areas of terrain affected by
(Burn Area Index) fire.
NBR (NIR - SWIR) / (NIR+ SWIR) Emphasized burned areas, while
(Normalized Burn Ratio Index) mitigating illumination and
atmospheric effects.
NDBI (SWIR - NIR) / (SWIR + NIR) Emphasized man-made built-up
(Normalized Difference Built-up Index) areas. Mitigates effects of terrain
illumination and atmospheric
effects.

06/06/2024
Table reference 28
 Common Remote Sensing Indices:
Geology

Index Name Equation Purpose/ Application

Clay Minerals Ratio SWIR1 / SWIR2 Leverages the fact that hydrous
minerals absorb radiation in 2.0-2.3
micron portion of EM spectrum.
Ferrous Minerals Ratio SWIR / NIR Highlights iron-bearing minerals.
Carbonate Index (red – green)/(red + green)
Rock Outcrop Index (SWIR1 - green)/(SWIR1 + green)

06/06/2024
Table reference 29
Image Transformations
• Linear transformation of multidimensional data for simplification
• Tasseled cap transformation
 Image Transformations
 Linear transformation of multidimensional data
 Reduces data dimensionality, while capturing as much
variation as possible in few bands

06/06/2024 31
 Tasseled Cap Transformations
 Orthogonal transformation of data into 4-dimensional
space
 Conversion of satellite derived data into spectral
indicators useful for vegetation analysis
 Brightness (SBI)
 Greenness (GVI)
 Wetness (YVI)

06/06/2024 32
 Exercise 2

 Create basic vegetation indices / practice band

math

06/06/2024 33
 Questions?

First, Last Name

Personal Program/Service Title, Program/Service Name,
000-000-0000
[email protected]

Geospatial Technology and Applications Center | GTAC

USDA Forest Service
 Questions + Reflection

What was new to you today?

What was most exciting or relevant for you to learn
today?

06/06/2024 35
 Questions + Reflection

What was new to you today?

What was most exciting or relevant for you to learn
today?
What is still unclear?
What questions do you have going into tomorrow?

06/06/2024 36