Creation of detailed soil properties maps of the Czech Republic based on national legacy data and digital soil mapping

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Minařík ◽  
Daniel Žížala ◽  
Anna Juřicová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Soil Mapping ◽  
Digital Soil Mapping ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Legacy Data

<p>Legacy soil data arising from traditional soil surveys are an important resource for digital soil mapping. In the Czech Republic, a large-scale (1:10 000) mapping of agricultural land was completed in 1970 after a decade of field investigation mapping. It represents a worldwide unique database of soil samples by its national extent and detail. This study aimed to create a detailed map of soil properties (organic carbon, ph, texture, soil unit) by using state-of-the-art digital soil mapping (DSM) methods. For this purpose we chose four geomorphologically different areas (2440 km<sup>2</sup> in total). A selected ensemble machine learning techniques based on bagging, boosting and stacking with random hyperparameters tuning were used to model each soil property. In addition to soil sample data, a DEM and its derivatives were used as common covariate layers. The models were evaluated using both internal repeated cross-validation and external validation. The best model was used for prediction of soil properties. The accuracy of prediction models is comparable with other studies. The resulting maps were also compared with the available original soil maps of the Czech Republic. The new maps reveal more spatial detail and natural variability of soil properties resulting from the use of DEM. This combination of high detailed legacy data with DSM results in the production of more spatially detailed and accurate maps, which may be particularly beneficial in supporting the decision-making of stakeholders.</p><p>The research has been supported by the project no. QK1820389 " Production of actual detailed maps of soil properties in the Czech Republic based on database of Large-scale Mapping of Agricultural Soils in Czechoslovakia and application of digital soil mapping" funding by Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.</p>

scholarly journals Which quality indicators reflect the most sensitive changes in the soil properties of the surface horizons affected by the erosion processes?

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 116-124
Author(s):  
Petra Bíla ◽  
Bořivoj Šarapatka ◽  
Ondřej Horňák ◽  
Jaroslava Novotná ◽  
Martin Brtnický
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Physical Chemical

Soil erosion, especially water erosion, is one of the most widespread types of soil degradation, not only worldwide, but also within the Czech Republic, where it endangers more than a half of the agricultural land. In addition to farming, the landscape structure has a significant impact on soil erosion in the conditions under study, where, especially in the post-war period, the collectivisation of large-scale arable land was accompanied by the abolition of the associated landscape elements. The agricultural production area of South Moravia is one of the most endangered areas in the Czech Republic, therefore, it was selected for our research, whose main objective was to verify the sensitivity of the selected physical, chemical and biochemical characteristics to identify the changes in the soil properties in the erosion processes at the identified erosion areas. The testing was carried out within a period of 5 years in 60 locations with Chernozems with cultivated corn. To assess the quality of the soil properties, indicators of soil quality from the physical, chemical and biological – biochemical groups were selected. The results of the analyses and the subsequent statistical evaluation showed that the chemical characteristics, especially those related to the quantity and quality of the organic matter, were the most sensitive to the changes in the soil properties. From the biochemical indicators, some enzymes, particularly dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase, reacted sensitively. The physical characteristics were not significantly affected by the erosion processes.

scholarly journals Analysis of land-law relations development in the Czech Republic after 1989 in the legal and economic kontext

2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (No. 5) ◽  
pp. 250-256
Author(s):  
J. Bartůšková ◽  
J. Homolka
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Land Law ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Large Scale Production ◽  
Czech Land

Changes in the land law, which occurred after 1948, still influence the whle Czech countryside to this day. Typical features of Czech agriculture, i.e. the fragmentation of ownership of the agricultural land fund and the high share of leased agricultural land, which is a direct consequence of the socialistic large-scale production, continue even despite extensive legal changes after 1989. The changes in the Czech land law after 1989 brought about not only the legal guarantees for owners but also new problems, which are still necessary to solve. An important tool of the solution of the present Czech agriculture problems is represented by land adjustments. The membership of the Czech Republic in the European Union on one hand led to the simplification of land acquisition for some foreigners, however; on the other hand it has not influenced in principle the structure of landowners. Still in 2008, the questions of the atonement of property injustices are finished yet regarding the churches concerning agricultural and forest land. A new civil code, currently in process, which can influence some legal relations to the land, has not been put forward to the Parliament yet.

Covariates selection assessment for field scale digital soil mapping in the context of precision fertilization management

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Mzid ◽  
Stefano Pignatti ◽  
Irina Veretelnikova ◽  
Raffaele Casa
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Soil Mapping ◽  
Digital Soil Mapping ◽  
Soil Maps ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Umbria Region ◽  
Digital Soil Maps

<p>The application of digital soil mapping in precision agriculture is extremely important, since an assessment of the spatial variability of soil properties within cultivated fields is essential in order to optimize agronomic practices such as fertilization, sowing, irrigation and tillage. In this context, it is necessary to develop methods which rely on information that can be obtained rapidly and at low cost. In the present work, an assessment is carried out of what are the most useful covariates to include in the digital soil mapping of field-scale properties of agronomic interest such as texture (clay, sand, silt), soil organic matter and pH in different farms of the Umbria Region in Central Italy. In each farm a proximal sensing-based mapping of the apparent soil electrical resistivity was carried out using the EMAS (Electro-Magnetic Agro Scanner) sensor. Soil sampling and subsequent analysis in the laboratory were carried out in each field. Different covariates were then used in the development of digital soil maps: apparent resistivity, high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from Lidar data, and bare soil and/or vegetation indices derived from Sentinel-2 images of the experimental fields. The approach followed two steps: (i) estimation of the variables using a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model, (ii) spatial interpolation via prediction models (including regression kriging and block kriging). The validity of the digital soil maps results was assessed both in terms of the accuracy in the estimation of soil properties and in terms of their impact on the fertilization prescription maps for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).</p>

Harmonizing, merging and publishing hydropedological data for the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luděk Strouhal ◽  
Petr Kavka ◽  
Hana Beitlerová ◽  
Daniel Žížala
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Project Duration ◽  
Erosion Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Projects

<p>Czech soil data is a mess. Modelling infiltration, or its probably most watched companion - runoff, has been quite a painful process for any researcher or practitioner studying any site larger or more heterogeneous than a few parcels of arable land. There are at least three main national soil databases in the Czech Republic, each of different age, scope, classification system and - most unfortunately - different administrator. So far Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation has taken good care of data for agricultural land, while The Forest Management Institute did his job considering forest soils. A few other research institutes manage their own specific databases. There has been no service available providing consistent data for the whole country, nor methodology giving some guidelines on how to cope with differences in existing datasets, though a few large-scale applications and studies do exist. This contribution presents preliminary results of a running project TJ02000234 - Physical and hydropedological soil properties of the Czech Republic. It aims at harmonizing and combining available datasets and deriving layers of soil texture and hydropedological properties. Next the project aims at gathering available measurements of hydraulic properties of Czech soil types and their partial validation and extending with field measurements in the scope limited by the 2-years of project duration. The derived database and data products will be published in the form of a certified map as well as offered to professionals through an online GIS portal. Design planners in the Land consolidation, flood and soil erosion mitigation projects as well as professionals in public administration and researchers in environmental disciplines will benefit from the publication of this consistent data.</p>

scholarly journals The impact of agricultural land afforestation on soil water content in Central Bohemia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Vopravil ◽  
Pavel Formánek ◽  
Darina Heřmanovská ◽  
Tomáš Khel ◽  
Karel Jacko
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Pinus Sylvestris ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Scots Pine ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Volumetric Water Content ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Impact

In the Czech Republic, the afforestation of agricultural land has been supported by providing subsidies from the government and the European Union. Afforestation of less-productive agricultural land provides many benefits including carbon sequestration, soil erosion control, biodiversity, water retention, cooling, social benefits, decreasing noise and light pollution, increasing air quality, wind speed reduction, oxygen production, wood production and non-wood products. In some aspects, it is possible to produce wood of the same quality on former agricultural land compared to permanent forest land. In this study, we attempted to find out the course of temperatures and volumetric water content as well as some other physical soil properties (at depths of 20, 40 and 60 cm) 9 years after the afforestation of agricultural land (warm, mild dry region of the Czech Republic) with a mixture of broadleaved tree species (Quercus robur L., Quercus rubra L. and Acer platanoides L.) or monospecific Pinus sylvestris L. stand; the study was performed in the period from April to the beginning of November 2020. Concerning the studied physical soil properties, the value of bulk density was higher (and total porosity lower) at a depth of 20 cm in Pinus sylvestris L. compared with agricultural land or the mixture of broadleaves; the water stability of soil aggregates was higher after the afforestation with the mixture of broadleaves. The temperature was lower in the soil of afforested plots (at all studied depths) compared to the agriculturally used land. Differences in rainfall interception, transpiration, soil<br />(and forest floor) properties and other factors could influence the obtained values of water content in the soil of the studied plots. The average volumetric water contents were the highest in the plots with Scots pine (depth of 20 cm) and broadleaves (depth of 40 cm), and on the control plot (depth of 60 cm). The volumetric water content at a soil depth of 20 cm was not significantly (P &gt; 0.05) different when the plot with Scots pine and agriculturally used land were compared. In all other cases and depths, the differences between plots were significant (P &lt; 0.05).

Evaluating near infrared spectroscopy for field prediction of soil properties

Soil Research ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Budiman Minasny ◽  
Alex B. McBratney ◽  
Leo Pichon ◽  
Wei Sun ◽  
Michael G. Short
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Soil Mapping ◽  
Digital Soil Mapping ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Spectral Library ◽  
Field Samples

This paper demonstrates the application of near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIR-DRS) measurements as part of digital soil mapping. We also investigate whether calibration functions developed from a spectral library can be used for rapid characterisation of soil properties in the field. Soil samples were collected along 24 toposequences in the Pokolbin irrigation district, ~7 km2 of predominantly agricultural land in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. Soil samples at 2 depths: 0–0.10 and 0.40–0.50 m were collected. The soil samples were scanned using NIR under 3 different conditions: field condition, dried unground, and dried ground. A separate spectral library containing soil laboratory measurements was used to develop functions to predict 3 main soil properties from NIR spectra (total C content, clay content, and sum of exchangeable cations). The absorbance spectra were found to be different for the 3 soil conditions. The field spectra appear to have higher absorbance, followed by dried unground samples and then dried ground samples. Although most spectral signatures or peaks were similar for the 3 soil conditions, field samples appear to have higher absorbance, particularly at 1400 nm and 1900 nm. The convex hull of the first 2 principal components of the soil spectra is an easy tool to evaluate the similarity of spectra from a calibration set to an observation. For field prediction, samples need to be calibrated using field samples. Finally, this study shows that NIR-DRS measurement is a useful part of digital soil mapping.

scholarly journals The development of regional differentiation of office construction in the Czech Republic: 1990–2010

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33
Author(s):  
Pavel Domalewski ◽  
Jan Baxa
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Regional Differentiation ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Dominant Position

Abstract The factors that were crucial for the construction of administrative buildings in the regional capitals of the Czech Republic are subject to examination in this article. One primary question is whether the development of office construction reflects the qualitative importance of the cities, or whether there are some other regularities in the spatial distribution of construction. To identify the key factors, controlled interviews with experts professionally involved in the construction of administrative buildings were carried out, and these data were then extended as part of a large-scale questionnaire survey with other experts on the issue. The results have confirmed the dominant position of the capital city of Prague in terms of its qualitative importance, as the remaining regional capitals have less than one-tenth of the volume of modern office building areas. The greatest differences in the construction of administrative buildings have been noted in Brno and Ostrava, despite the fact that they exhibit similar characteristics when considered in the light of respondent-determined factors.

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