Tillage (S2)

Normalized Difference Tillage Index (NDTI) is a remote sensing index derived from ESA Sentinel-2 that estimates soil disturbance and tillage intensity using short-wave infrared (SWIR) reflectance. NDTI is calculated as (SWIR2 - SWIR1) / (SWIR2 + SWIR1), leveraging the sensitivity of SWIR bands to exposed soil and crop residue cover.

Values generally range from -0.1 to 0.6, with lower values indicating lower residue cover or more tillage, and higher values suggesting more residual dry matter or less tillage activity. Because NDTI can be influenced by soil moisture and crop type, it is best interpreted alongside true color imagery and vegetation indices. This dataset is available globally at 20 m spatial resolution and is visualized using a continuous earth-tone gradient to highlight relative differences in tillage intensity across fields.