Landsat and SPOT data interpretations of geo-hydrological aspects in Wadi Tabalah Area, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract EN

Remotely sensed digital satellite data play an important role nowadays in geo-hydrological studies, especially when integrated with GIS techniques.

Landsat and SPOT imagery were utilized in a lithologically homogeneous terrain in the middle of the southern Arabian Shield to delineate land-classes, soil temperature, and soil moisture content quantitatively and qualitatively.

Four landuse categories (agricultural, urban, uncultivated, uncultivable) were identified from visible and infrared satellite data.

Radiance temperature differences were computed for these categories from thermal infrared data and were found to be in good agreement with those predicted from the theoretical functions relating soil moisture to daytime temperature.

Results indicate that satellite imagery could be used successfully to predict soil moisture and to assess droughts in the Arabian Shield or any other arid land.