Relationship between satellite-derived NDVI and soil electrical resistivity: a case study

Efficient and reliable methods for measuring spatial variations in soil properties are fundamental in precision agriculture. In the present work a survey on soil variability and within-farm plant is reported, coupling a multi-depth automatic resistivity profiler (ARP©, Geocarta, France) and the NDVI index derived from Sentinel-2 imagery data. Based on the relationship between resistivity and NDVI index, the objective of the analysis was to test the possibility to monitor the evolution of vegetation index and modulate the agricultural operations depending on soil features and soil tillage techniques management on soft wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.). A comparison of the same homogeneous zones managed with different soil tillage techniques shows an increase of NDVI index from conventional tillage (CT) to minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT). This is caused by conservation tillage techniques which allow a mitigation of cooling phenomena, higher availability of nutrients and lower number of passages across the field preventing soil compaction.