UAV-Based Land Surface Temperatures and Vegetation Indices Explain and Predict Spatial Patterns of Soil Water Isotopes in a Tropical Dry Forest

authored by: Matthias Beyer, Alberto Iraheta, Malkin Gerchow, Kathrin Kuehnhammer, Ana Claudia Callau-Beyer, Paul Koeniger, David Dubbert, Maren Dubbert, Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo, Christian Birkel
Abstract: The spatial variation of soil water isotopes (SWI)—representing the baseline for investigating root water uptake (RWU) depths with water stable isotope techniques—has rarely been investigated. Here, we use spatial SWI depth profile sampling in combination with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based land surface temperature estimates and vegetation indices (VI) in order to improving process understanding of the relationships between the spatial variability of soil water content and soil water isotope patterns with canopy status, represented in the form of VI. We carried out a spatial sampling of 10 SWI depth profiles in a tropical dry forest. UAV data were collected and analyzed to obtain detailed characterization of soil temperature and canopy status. We then performed a statistical analysis between the VI and land surface temperatures with soil water content and SWI values at different spatial resolutions (3 cm–5 m). Best relationships were used for generating soil water isoscapes for the entire study area. Results suggest that soil water content and SWI values are strongly mediated by canopy parameters (VI). Various VI correlate strongly with soil water content and SWI values across all depths. SWI at the surface depend on land surface temperature (R² of 0.66 for δ¹⁸O and 0.64 for δ²H). Strongest overall correlations were found at a spatial resolution of 0.5 m. We speculate that this might be the ideal resolution for spatially characterizing SWI patterns and investigate RWU in tropical dry forest environments. Supporting spatial analyses of SWI with UAV-based approaches might be a future avenue for improving the spatial representation and credibility of such studies.
Organisation(s): Institute of Horticultural Production Systems
External Organisation(s): Technische Universität Braunschweig
Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen Braunschweig (Messeweg)
University of Freiburg
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
University of Texas at Arlington
Universidad de Costa Rica
Type: Article
Journal: Water resources research
Volume: 61
ISSN: 0043-1397
Publication date: 14.02.2025
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Water Science and Technology
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 15 - Life on Land
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037294 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{2b6adef430d443cfa79235afa8d596c4,
title = "UAV-Based Land Surface Temperatures and Vegetation Indices Explain and Predict Spatial Patterns of Soil Water Isotopes in a Tropical Dry Forest",
abstract = "The spatial variation of soil water isotopes (SWI)—representing the baseline for investigating root water uptake (RWU) depths with water stable isotope techniques—has rarely been investigated. Here, we use spatial SWI depth profile sampling in combination with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based land surface temperature estimates and vegetation indices (VI) in order to improving process understanding of the relationships between the spatial variability of soil water content and soil water isotope patterns with canopy status, represented in the form of VI. We carried out a spatial sampling of 10 SWI depth profiles in a tropical dry forest. UAV data were collected and analyzed to obtain detailed characterization of soil temperature and canopy status. We then performed a statistical analysis between the VI and land surface temperatures with soil water content and SWI values at different spatial resolutions (3 cm–5 m). Best relationships were used for generating soil water isoscapes for the entire study area. Results suggest that soil water content and SWI values are strongly mediated by canopy parameters (VI). Various VI correlate strongly with soil water content and SWI values across all depths. SWI at the surface depend on land surface temperature (R2 of 0.66 for δ18O and 0.64 for δ2H). Strongest overall correlations were found at a spatial resolution of 0.5 m. We speculate that this might be the ideal resolution for spatially characterizing SWI patterns and investigate RWU in tropical dry forest environments. Supporting spatial analyses of SWI with UAV-based approaches might be a future avenue for improving the spatial representation and credibility of such studies.",
keywords = "isoscapes, land surface temperature, plant water uptake, thermal infrared, tropical dry forest, unmanned aerial vehicle, vegetation index, water isotopes",
author = "Matthias Beyer and Alberto Iraheta and Malkin Gerchow and Kathrin Kuehnhammer and Callau-Beyer, {Ana Claudia} and Paul Koeniger and David Dubbert and Maren Dubbert and Ricardo S{\'a}nchez-Murillo and Christian Birkel",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025. The Author(s).",
year = "2025",
month = feb,
day = "14",
doi = "10.1029/2024WR037294",
language = "English",
volume = "61",
journal = "Water resources research",
issn = "0043-1397",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "2",
}