scholarly journals Improving In-Situ Estimation of Soil Profile Properties Using a Multi-Sensor Probe

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoshuai Pei ◽  
Kenneth Sudduth ◽  
Kristen Veum ◽  
Minzan Li

Optical diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) has been used for estimating soil physical and chemical properties in the laboratory. In-situ DRS measurements offer the potential for rapid, reliable, non-destructive, and low cost measurement of soil properties in the field. In this study, conducted on two central Missouri fields in 2016, a commercial soil profile instrument, the Veris P4000, acquired visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectra (343–2222 nm), apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), cone index (CI) penetrometer readings, and depth data, simultaneously to a 1 m depth using a vertical probe. Simultaneously, soil core samples were obtained and soil properties were measured in the laboratory. Soil properties were estimated using VNIR spectra alone and in combination with depth, ECa, and CI (DECS). Estimated soil properties included soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), moisture, soil texture (clay, silt, and sand), cation exchange capacity (CEC), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and pH. Multiple preprocessing techniques and calibration methods were applied to the spectral data and evaluated. Calibration methods included partial least squares regression (PLSR), neural networks, regression trees, and random forests. For most soil properties, the best model performance was obtained with the combination of preprocessing with a Gaussian smoothing filter and analysis by PLSR. In addition, DECS improved estimation of silt, sand, CEC, Ca, and Mg over VNIR spectra alone; however, the improvement was more than 5% only for Ca. Finally, differences in estimation accuracy were observed between the two fields despite them having similar soils, with one field demonstrating better results for all soil properties except silt. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential for in-situ estimation of profile soil properties using a multi-sensor approach, and provides suggestions regarding the best combination of sensors, preprocessing, and modeling techniques for in-situ estimation of profile soil properties.

Soil Research ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bambang H. Kusumo ◽  
C. B. Hedley ◽  
M. J. Hedley ◽  
A. Hueni ◽  
M. P. Tuohy ◽  
...  

A field method has been developed for rapid in situ assessment of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content using a portable spectroradiometer (ASD FieldSpecPro). The technique was evaluated at 7 field sites in permanent pasture, and in 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year pine-to-pasture conversions on Pumice, Allophanic, and Tephric Recent Soils in the Taupo and Rotorua region of New Zealand. A total of 210 samples were collected from 2 depths: 37.5 and 112.5 mm. Field measurement of diffuse spectral reflectance was recorded from a flat sectioned horizontal soil surface of a soil core using a purpose-built contact probe attached by fibre optic cable to the spectroradiometer. A 15-mm soil slice was collected from each cut surface for analysis of total C and N using a LECO Analyser. Soils had a wide range of total C and N (0.26–11.21% C, 0.02–1.01% N). Partial least-squares regression analysis was used to develop calibration models between smoothed-first derivative 5-nm-spaced spectral data and LECO-measured total C and N. The models successfully predicted total C and N in the validation sets with the best prediction for C (RPD 2.01, r2 0.75, RMSEP 1.21%) and N (RPD 2.66, r2 0.86, RMSEP 0.07%). Prediction accuracy using different selection methods of calibration and validation set is reported. This study indicates that in situ assessment of soil C and N by field spectroscopy has considerable potential for spatially rapid measurement of soil C and N in the landscape.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Jones ◽  
Alex B. McBratney

Abstract. Homogeneous spectral response zones represent relatively uniform regions of soil that may be useful for identifying soil horizons or delineating soil units spatially. External parameter orthogonalisation (EPO) and direct standardisation (DS) were assessed for their ability to conserve intrinsic soil information of spectra under variable moisture conditions, as experienced when taking measurements in situ. A 1 m × 1 m section of a soil profile was intensively sampled using visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy at 2.5 cm vertical intervals and 10 cm horizontal intervals. Further samples were taken on a 10 cm grid and scanned in a laboratory under field moist and air-dry conditions. A principal component space was constructed based on the in situ scans following either EPO transformation, DS transformation or following pre-processing only (PP). Scores from the first four principal components – which accounted for more than 0.97 of the total variance in each case – were subject to k-means clustering to identify homogeneous spectral response zones. Laboratory-based scans were then projected onto the same principal component space and fitted to the pre-existing cluster centroids. Both EPO and DS were found to have potential in reconciling differences observed between in situ and laboratory-based measurements compared to pre-processing only (PP). EPO outperformed DS in terms of conserving the relationship between PC scores (LCCC: EPO = 0.84, DS = 0.58, PPO = 0.44; RMSE: EPO = 11.8, DS = 15.4, PPO = 38.5) and also in identifying homogeneous spectral response zones that corresponded to field observed horizons.


1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Blanco ◽  
J. Coello ◽  
H. Iturriaga ◽  
S. Maspoch ◽  
C. de la Pezuela

The results obtained by implementing Principal Component Regression (PCR) according to three different criteria for choosing principal components (PCs), and those provided by Partial Least-Squares Regression (PSLR), in the determination of the active compound in a pharmaceutical preparation by near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy are compared. The PCR-top down criterion used is commonly implemented in commercially available software: it selects consecutive PCs beginning with that possessing the largest eigenvalue. The other two criteria used do not assume the PCs with the largest eigenvalues to be the best predictors for the response variable; rather, the PCR-correlation criterion chooses only those PCs exhibiting the highest correlation with the response variable, and the PCR-best subset criterion selects those that provide the lowest predicted residual sum of squares ( PRESS) for an external prediction set. All the calibration methods tested exhibited a similar predictive ability (prediction errors ranged from 1.34% to 1.49%); however, the number of PCs used in the regression varied among them. The PLSR technique did not excel the methods based on selecting the best PCs for regression. Also, the PCR-correlation and PCR-best subset methods provided the same results and used fewer PCs than the PCR-top down method.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 2819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Abdul Munnaf ◽  
Said Nawar ◽  
Abdul Mounem Mouazen

Visible and near infrared (vis–NIR) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy has made invaluable contributions to the accurate estimation of soil properties having direct and indirect spectral responses in NIR spectroscopy with measurements made in laboratory, in situ or using on-line (while the sensor is moving) platforms. Measurement accuracies vary with measurement type, for example, accuracy is higher for laboratory than on-line modes. On-line measurement accuracy deteriorates further for secondary (having indirect spectral response) soil properties. Therefore, the aim of this study is to improve on-line measurement accuracy of secondary properties by fusion of laboratory and on-line scanned spectra. Six arable fields were scanned using an on-line sensing platform coupled with a vis–NIR spectrophotometer (CompactSpec by Tec5 Technology for spectroscopy, Germany), with a spectral range of 305–1700 nm. A total of 138 soil samples were collected and used to develop five calibration models: (i) standard, using 100 laboratory scanned samples; (ii) hybrid-1, using 75 laboratory and 25 on-line samples; (iii) hybrid-2, using 50 laboratory and 50 on-line samples; (iv) hybrid-3, using 25 laboratory and 75 on-line samples, and (v) real-time using 100 on-line samples. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were developed for soil pH, available potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and sodium (Na) and quality of models were validated using an independent prediction dataset (38 samples). Validation results showed that the standard models with laboratory scanned spectra provided poor to moderate accuracy for on-line prediction, and the hybrid-3 and real-time models provided the best prediction results, although hybrid-2 model with 50% on-line spectra provided equally good results for all properties except for pH and Na. These results suggest that either the real-time model with exclusively on-line spectra or the hybrid model with fusion up to 50% (except for pH and Na) and 75% on-line scanned spectra allows significant improvement of on-line prediction accuracy for secondary soil properties using vis–NIR spectroscopy.


Soil Research ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongni Shao ◽  
Yong He

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of the infrared spectroscopy technique for non-destructive measurement of soil properties. For the study, 280 soil samples were collected from several regions in Zhejiang, China. Data from near infrared (NIR, 800–2500 nm), mid infrared (MIR, 4000–400 cm–1), and the combined NIR–MIR regions were compared to determine which produced the best prediction of soil properties. Least-squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) were applied to construct calibration models for soil properties such as available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The results showed that both spectral regions contained substantial information on N, P, and K in the soils studied, and the combined NIR–MIR region did a little worse than either the NIR or MIR region. Optimal results were obtained through LS-SVM compared with the standard partial least-squares regression method, and the correlation coefficient of prediction (rp), root mean square error for prediction, and bias were, respectively, 0.90, 16.28 mg/kg, and 0.96 mg/kg for the prediction results of N in the NIR region; and 0.88, 41.62 mg/kg, and –2.28 mg/kg for the prediction results of P, and 0.89, 33.47 mg/kg, and 2.96 mg/kg for the prediction results of K, both in the MIR region. This work demonstrated the potential of LS-SVM coupled to infrared reflectance spectroscopy for more efficient soil analysis and the acquisition of soil information.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 70-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romsonthi Chutipong ◽  
Tawornpruek Saowanuch ◽  
Watana Sumitra

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a major index of soil quality assessment because it is one of the key soil properties controlling nutrient budgets in agricultural production systems. The aim of the in situ near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for SOM prediction in paddy area is evaluation of the potential of SOM and prediction of other soil properties. There are keys for soil fertility and soil quality assessments. A spectral reflectance of 130 soil samples was collected by field spectroradiometer in a region of near-infrared. Spectral reflectance collections were processed by the first derivative transformation with the Savitsky-Golay algorithms. Partial least square regression method was used to develop a calibration model between soil properties and spectral reflectance, which was used for prediction and validation processes. Finally, the results of this study demonstrate that NIRS is an effective method that can be used to predict SOM (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.73, RPD (ratio of performance to deviation) = 1.82) and total nitrogen (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.72, RPD = 1.78). Therefore, NIRS is a potential tool for soil properties predictions. The use of these techniques will facilitate the implementation of soil management with a decreasing cost and time of soil study in a large scale. However, further works are necessary to develop more accurate soil properties prediction and to apply this method to other areas.


Soil Systems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Nandkishor M. Dhawale ◽  
Viacheslav I. Adamchuk ◽  
Shiv O. Prasher ◽  
Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel

Measuring soil texture and soil organic matter (SOM) is essential given the way they affect the availability of crop nutrients and water during the growing season. Among the different proximal soil sensing (PSS) technologies, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) has been deployed to conduct rapid soil measurements in situ. This technique is indirect and, therefore, requires site- and data-specific calibration. The quality of soil spectra is affected by the level of soil preparation and can be accessed through the repeatability (precision) and predictability (accuracy) of unbiased measurements and their combinations. The aim of this research was twofold: First, to develop a novel method to improve data processing, focusing on the reproducibility of individual soil reflectance spectral elements of the visible and near-infrared (vis–NIR) kind, obtained using a commercial portable soil profiling tool, and their direct link with a selected set of soil attributes. Second, to assess both the precision and accuracy of the vis–NIR hyperspectral soil reflectance measurements and their derivatives, while predicting the percentages of sand, clay and SOM content, in situ as well as in laboratory conditions. Nineteen locations in three agricultural fields were identified to represent an extensive range of soils, varying from sand to clay loam. All measurements were repeated three times and a ratio spread over error (RSE) was used as the main indicator of the ability of each spectral parameter to distinguish among field locations with different soil attributes. Both simple linear regression (SLR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were used to define the predictability of % SOM, % sand, and % clay. The results indicated that when using a SLR, the standard error of prediction (SEP) for sand was about 10–12%, with no significant difference between in situ and ex situ measurements. The percentage of clay, on the other hand, had 3–4% SEP and 1–2% measurement precision (MP), indicating both the reproducibility of the spectra and the ability of a SLR to accurately predict clay. The SEP for SOM was only a quarter lower than the standard deviation of laboratory measurements, indicating that SLR is not an appropriate model for this soil property for the given set of soils. In addition, the MPs of around 2–4% indicated relatively strong spectra reproducibility, which indicated the need for more expanded models. This was apparent since the SEP of PLSR was always 2–3 times smaller than that of SLR. However, the relatively small number of test locations limited the ability to develop widely applicable calibration models. The most important finding in this study is that the majority of vis–NIR spectral measurements were sufficiently reproducible to be considered for distinguishing among diverse soil samples, while certain parts of the spectra indicate the capability to achieve this at α = 0.05. Therefore, the innovative methodology of evaluating both the precision and accuracy of DRS measurements will help future developers evaluate the robustness and applicability of any PSS instrument.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1895
Author(s):  
José Ramón Rodríguez-Pérez ◽  
Víctor Marcelo ◽  
Dimas Pereira-Obaya ◽  
Marta García-Fernández ◽  
Enoc Sanz-Ablanedo

Visible, near, and shortwave infrared (VIS-NIR-SWIR) reflectance spectroscopy, a cost-effective and rapid means of characterizing soils, was used to predict soil sample properties for four vineyards (central and north-western Spain). Sieved and air-dried samples were measured using a portable spectroradiometer (350–2500 nm) and compared for pistol grip (PG) versus contact probe (CP) setups. Raw data processed using standard normal variate (SVN) and detrending transformation (DT) were grouped into four subsets (VIS: 350–700 nm; NIR: 701–1000 nm; SWIR: 1001–2500 nm; and full range: 350–2500 nm) in order to identify the most suitable range for determining soil characteristics. The performance of partial least squares regression (PLSR) models in predicting soil properties from reflectance spectra was evaluated by cross-validation. The four spectral subsets and transformed reflectances for each setup were used as PLSR predictor variables. The best performing PLSR models were obtained for pH, electrical conductivity, and phosphorous (R2 values above 0.92), while models for sand, nitrogen, and potassium showed moderately good performances (R2 values between 0.69 and 0.77). The SWIR subset and SVN + DT processing yielded the best PLSR models for both the PG and CP setups. VIS-NIR-SWIR reflectance spectroscopy shows promise as a technique for characterizing vineyard soils for precision viticulture purposes. Further studies will be carried out to corroborate our findings.


Author(s):  
Yuri Andrei Gelsleichter ◽  
Lúcia Helena Cunha dos Anjos ◽  
Elias Mendes Costa ◽  
Gabriela Valente ◽  
Paula Debiasi ◽  
...  

Visible and near-infrared reflectance (Vis&ndash;NIR) techniques are a plausible method to soil analyses. The main objective of the study was to investigate the capacity to predicting soil properties Al, Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, pH, total carbon (TC), H and N, by using different spectral (350&ndash;2500 nm) pre-treatments and machine learning algorithms such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Random Forest (RF), Partial Least-squares Regression (PLSR) and Cubist (CB). The 300 soil samples were sampled in the upper part of the Itatiaia National Park (INP), located in Southeastern region of Brazil. The 10 K-fold cross validation was used with the models. The best spectral pre-treatment was the Inverse of Reflectance by a Factor of 104 (IRF4) for TC with CB, giving an averaged R&sup2; among the folds of 0.85, RMSE of 1.96; and 0.67 with 0.041 respectively for H. Into the K-folds models of TC, the highest prediction had a R&sup2; of 0.95. These results are relevant for the INP management plan, and also to similar environments. The good correlation with Vis&ndash;NIR techniques can be used for remote sense monitoring, especially in areas with very restricted access such as INP.


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