Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Research article2008Peer reviewedOpen access

The use of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to improve soil mapping at the farm scale

Wetterlind, Johanna; Stenberg, Bo; Soderstrom, Mats

Abstract

The creation of fine resolution soil maps is hampered by the increasing costs associated with conventional laboratory analyses of soil. In this study, near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was used to reduce the number of conventional soil analyses required by the use of calibration models at the farm scale. Soil electrical conductivity and mid infrared reflection (MIR) from a satellite image were used and compared as ancillary data to guide the targeting of soil sampling. About 150 targeted samples were taken over a 97 hectare farm (approximately 1.5 samples per hectare) for each type of ancillary data. A sub-set of 25 samples was selected from each of the targeted data sets (150 points) to measure clay and soil organic matter (SOM) contents for calibration with NIR. For the remaining 125 samples only their NIR-spectra needed to be determined. The NIR calibration models for both SOM and clay contents resulted in predictions with small errors. Maps derived from the calibrated data were compared with a map based on 0.5 samples per hectare representing a conventional farm-scale soil map. The maps derived from the NIR-calibrated data are promising, and the potential for developing a cost-effective strategy to map soil from NIR-calibrated data at the farm-scale is considerable.

Keywords

near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy; soil electrical conductivity; partial least squares regression; satellite imagery; mid infrared reflection (MIR)

Published in

Precision Agriculture
2008, Volume: 9, number: 1-2, pages: 57-69

      SLU Authors

      • Stenberg, Bo

        • Department of Soil Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

        • Söderström, Mats

          • Department of Soil Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

        Sustainable Development Goals

        SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

        UKÄ Subject classification

        Soil Science
        Agricultural Science
        Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use

        Publication identifier

        DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-007-9051-z

        Permanent link to this page (URI)

        https://res.slu.se/id/publ/18022