Elements for developing an operational hidrology using remote sensing: soil-vegetation mixture

The hydrological response of the soil-vegetation system depends on the properties and covers of its components, particularly in the precipitation-runoff relationship. The use of remote sensing in hydrological applications is reviewed, concluding that the indirect modeling approaches used are complex and have multicolinearity problems. In the spectral dynamics associated with vegetation growth in the red and infrared spaces, the attractors or infinite reflectance points let us to propose an equivalence of reflectances with hydraulic properties of the soil-vegetation system using the concept of equivalent moisture. This kind of modeling is generalizable for any spectral space between two bands. Finally, using energy and water balances in a basin or plot of land the theoretical foundations are established for the use of remote sensing in the modeling of the precipitation-runoff relationship.