Satellite data - Source of information on soil

The objective of the paper is to present possibilities of digital processing of Landsat and Spot satellite data for obtaining information on bare soil. The emphasis has been put on spectral indices that can be correlated with several soil properties (e.g. colour, water and humus content) and can be also used as input parameters to various models within the geographical information systems. The possible applications in agricultural landscape have been documented by two experiments realized in Slovakia - identification of soil water content on Zitny ostrov area and identification and analysis of soil sheet erosion in Trnava hillyland.