Abstract:The Laoshan forest is the largest forest in Nanjing, and it plays an important role in water resource management in Nanjing. The objectives of this study are to determine if the temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI) is suitable to estimate the soil moisture and if soil moisture is significantly affected by tree species in the Laoshan forest. This paper calculated the spatial distribution of TVDI using LANDSAT-5 TM data. Sixty-two observation points of in situ soil moisture measurements were selected to validate the effectiveness of the TVDI as an index for assessing soil moisture in the Laoshan forest. With the aid of the three different temporal patterns, which are 10 January 2011, 18 May 2011 and 23 September 2011, this paper used the TVDI to investigate the differences of soil moisture under four kinds of mono-species forests and two kinds of mixed forests. The results showed that there is a strong and significant negative correlation between the TVDI and the in situ measured soil moisture (R ). This means that the TVDI can reflect the soil moisture status under different tree species in the Laoshan forest. The soil moisture under these six types of land cover from low to high is listed in the following order: Eucommia ulmoides, Quercus acutissima, broadleaf mixed forest, Cunninghamia lanceolata, coniferous and broadleaf mixed forest and Pinus massoniana. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 11402