Integration of Sentinel-1 and -2 imagery through advanced cloud computing improves hillside vineyard soil moisture analysis

Farid Faridani, Alessandro Mataffo, Giandomenico Corrado, Antonio Dente, Claudio Rossi, D’Urso, Guido and Boris Basile

Agricultural Water Management, 2025, vol. 315, issue C

Abstract: Grape yield and quality are tightly linked to soil moisture (SM), making SM monitoring critical, especially as climate change increases reliance on irrigation in rain-fed areas. Sentinel-1 (S1) radar and Sentinel-2 (S2) optical satellites offer valuable high-resolution, frequent data streams ideal for measuring surface SM dynamics. However, despite the recognized potential of satellite remote sensing, Change Detection (CD) techniques have not been widely applied for SM monitoring within more challenging hillside grapevine vineyard environments. To address this gap, this study developed and validated two CD methods for retrieving SM at 20 m resolution using Google Earth Engine. The first method (CDS2) used S2 optical bands (Red, NIR, SWIR), while the second (CDS1S2) combined S1’s C-band radar (VV polarization) with S2 optical data. The methods were tested in two hillside vineyards (northern/southern Italy) and validated using independent reference data from flat bushlands (TxSON, Texas). Comparisons with in-situ measurements showed both methods effectively captured SM dynamics. However, combining S1 and S2 data (CDS1S2) provided significantly more accurate estimates than using S2 alone (CDS2), achieving higher R² (0.23–0.41 vs. 0.16–0.21) and lower RMSE (3.6–5.7 % vs. 3.8–7.1 % [m³/m³]). This improvement is attributed to S1's ability to penetrate vegetation and operate under various atmospheric conditions. This research demonstrates a scalable, user-friendly, and reproducible geospatial approach for precision viticulture. It highlights the potential of integrating advanced remote sensing technologies to enhance vineyard water management and sustain agricultural productivity amidst environmental changes.

Keywords: Climate change; Remote sensing; Soil moisture; Geospatial analysis; Satellite imagery; Viticulture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425002550
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:315:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425002550

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109541

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Water Management is currently edited by B.E. Clothier, W. Dierickx, J. Oster and D. Wichelns

More articles in Agricultural Water Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().