Soil hydraulic characterization derived from Landsat TM-5 data

The aim of this study is to test the utilization of Landsat TM-5 imagery in hydrological applications. The areas selected for the study are the: Nievole river basin (47 km²), a subcatchment of the Arno river basin (Toscana, Italy) and the Fucecchio marsh (50 km² , Toscana, Italy). A linear relationship has been found between satellite data and soil parameters obtained from pedological maps available: fur the marsh area, such as hydraulic conductivity (K, mm/h) and soil water content (WC, mm). An example of obtaining runoff Curve Number, CN, is also presented. The same relation has been used for the hydraulic characterization of the Nievole river basin, marked by lack of pedologic maps. The procedure described in the article provides an accurate soil hydraulic characterization based on remote sensing for areas where soil maps are too expensive and time consuming to realize