Predicting water content using Gaussian model on soil spectra

This paper presents an approach to estimating soil moisture content through fitting an inverted Gaussian function to the continuum in soil spectra. The soil moisture Gaussian model (SMGM) estimates the water content by the declining reflectance in the near infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) regions, 1.2-2.5 mum, due to the spreading of the fundamental water absorption at 2.8 mum. Convex hull boundary points were used to isolate the spectral continuum and to fit the inverted Gaussian function. The function extrapolates the continuum to the fundamental water absorption beyond the wavelength limits of common laboratory, field, and airborne instruments. Of the derived functional parameters, both amplitude and area on the shortwave side of the inverted Gaussian curve were highly correlated with soil water content.