A novel framework to estimate soil mineralogy using soil spectroscopy

Author(s)

Mendes, Wanderson de Sousa ^[1] ; Dematte, Jose A. M. ^[1] ; Bonfatti, Benito Roberto ^[2] ; Resende, Maria Eduarda B. ^[1] ; Campos, Lucas Rabelo ^[1] ; Saraiva da Costa, Antonio Carlos ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Luiz Queiroz Coll Agr, Dept Soil Sci, Av Padua Dias 11, Portal Box 9, BR-13418140 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estado Minas Gerais, St Colorado 700, BR-37902092 Passos, MG - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Maringa, Dept Agron, Av Colombo 5790, BR-87020900 Maringa, Parana - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: APPLIED GEOCHEMISTRY; v. 127, APR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Soil minerals are usually quantified by the conventional laboratory soil analyses. However, developments in interpretations and analyses of the visible, near-infrared, and short-infrared (Vis-NIR-SWIR) diffuse reflectance have allowed the quantification of some soil minerals. In this study, we aimed to implement a novel framework using Vis-NIR-SWIR spectroscopy to quantify the main soil minerals. We also assessed the application of this framework to create new environmental variables for digital soil mapping (DSM). The soil spectra database comprised 2701 samples from 1008 sites in the spectral range of 350?2500 nm at 0?20, 40?60, and 80?100 cm depths. The specific bands in the Vis-NIR-SWIR spectra that identify the presence of soil mineral were selected based on the literature with the United States Geological Survey Spectral Library Version 7 and in the strong maxima and minima of the second-derivative curves of the soil mineral standards using the Savitzky-Golay method. We proposed an estimation and conversion of the measurement unit of soil minerals in amplitude to g kg? 1 using a small dataset of mineral content quantified via X-Ray Powder Diffraction. We selected randomly 85 samples out of 2701 available at 0?20 cm depth and sent to conventional laboratory analyses to calibrate the final estimation, using the kaolinite soil mineral as an example. Therefore, a constant factor was determined to estimate mineral content in soils displaying RMSE, R2adj, the Lin?s concordance coefficient (CCC), Bias, and RPIQ values of 7612 g kg? 1, 0.28, 0.50, 13.09 g kg? 1, and 0.56, respectively. This evaluation was assessed by splitting 85 samples into 80% to determine and 20% to validate the constant factor. For the DSM procedure, we used 2701 samples split into 80% and 20% for calibration and validation, respectively, of the models for each of the nine minerals. This study showed that the proposed framework using Vis-NIR-SWIR spectroscopy to estimate soil minerals is promising due to higher CCC and lower RMSE values obtained. Furthermore, the spectral amplitude for each mineral provides important information to be used as environmental variables for the prediction of soil attributes, soil types, and soil properties. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/26124-6 - Precision pedology: soil characterisation and mapping in real time using geotechnologies
• Grantee: Wanderson de Sousa Mendes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• FAPESP's process: 14/22262-0 - Geotechnologies on a detailed digital soil mapping and the Brazilian soil spectral library: development and applications
• Grantee: José Alexandre Melo Demattê
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants