Normalized Difference Tillage Index (NDTI)

What is Normalized Difference Tillage Index (NDTI)?

NDTI quantifies the agricultural preparation of soil by measuring the difference between two Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) satellite bands.
Several broadband spectral indices exist to assess crop residue cover and tillage intensity.
In most cases, the NDTI was one of the best tillage indices for estimating crop residue cover.

How do you calculate NDTI?

It is calculated as:

NDTI = (B11 - B12)/(B11 + B12)

B11 and B12 correspond to reflectance in Sentinel 2 short-wave infrared band 11 (1610 nm) and short-wave infrared band 12 (2190 nm), respectively.

References:

• Quemada, M., & Daughtry, C. S. T. (2016). Spectral Indices to Improve Crop Residue Cover Estimation under Varying Moisture Conditions. Remote Sensing, 8(8). doi:10.3390/rs8080660

Example of NDTI, Rostenice farm, July 01 2020