Identification of soil moisture by using Microwave ALOS Palsar satellite (Case Study of Bekasi District and it’s surrounding).

Abstract

Soil moisture one of important factor in determining the level of dryness of the land. Therefore, monitoring the characteristics of spatial and temporal distribution of soil moisture is essential. Effective method for monitoring soil moisture on a large scale is by remote sensing. This research using the image of the PALSAR ALOS satellite which is a type of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) that is sensitive to soil moisture content. Detection of soil moisture content was obtained based on the dielectric constant values that derived from values of backscatter of radar image. The purpose of this research is to study the characteristics and identify the soil moisture levels in some areas land cover Bekasi District and it’s surrounding using PALSAR ALOS satellite imagery. There are two empirical models used in soil moisture model prediction, they are the Dubois and top models. Both methods are suitable for open areas with a relatively flat surface. Dubois used to predict the value of dielectric constant and surface roughness, on the other hand the Top models used to predict soil moisture based on the value of the dielectric constant. This research tried to study the six types of land cover of water bodies, paddy fields, fallow paddy fields, open land, the land building, and land vegetation. The results showed that the highest dielectric constant values are found in water bodies with an average value of 7.9 and the lowest is in the fallow paddy field with an average value of 5.2. The highest soil moisture values are found in the land of vegetation with an average value of 25% and the lowest is in the fallow paddy field with a value of 20%.