Bare Soil Index

Description

The Bare Soil Index (BSI) and modified Bare Soil Index (MBI) are metrics to identify and differentiate bare soil from other land cover types.

BSI is calculated using the SWIR1, red and blue spectral bands, where all are available through Sentinel-2.

BSI = ( (SWIR1 + RED) - (NIR + BLUE)) / SWIR1+RED) + (NIR +BLUE))

MBI is calculated using the SWIR1,SWIR2 and near-infrared bands, where all are available on Landsat 8.

MBI = (SWIR1 - SWIR2 - NIR) / (SWIR1 + SWIR2 + NIR) + 0.5

References

Mzid, N., Pignatti, S., Huang, W., and Casa, R. (2021). An analysis of bare soil occurrence in arable croplands for remote sensing topsoil applications. Remote Sensing, 13(3), 474.

Nguyen, C. T., Chidthaisong, A., Kieu Diem, P., and Huo, L. Z. (2021). A modified bare soil index to identify bare land features during agricultural fallow periods in Southeast Asia using Landsat 8. Land, 10(3), 231.