Abstract
Although many Soil Spectral Libraries (SSLs) have been created globally, these libraries still have not been operationalized for end-users. To address this limitation, this study created an online Brazilian Soil Spectral Service (BraSpecS). The system was based on the Brazilian Soil Spectral Library (BSSL) with samples collected in the Visible–Near–Short-wave infrared (vis–NIR–SWIR) and Mid-infrared (MIR) ranges. The interactive platform allows users to find spectra, act as custodians of the data, and estimate several soil properties and classification. The system was tested by 500 Brazilian and 65 international users. Users accessed the platform (besbbr.com.br), uploaded their spectra, and received soil organic carbon (SOC) and clay content prediction results via email. The BraSpecS prediction provided good results for Brazilian data, but performed variably for other countries. Prediction for countries outside of Brazil using local spectra (External Country Soil Spectral Libraries, ExCSSL) mostly showed greater performance than BraSpecS. Clay R2 ranged from 0.5 (BraSpecS) to 0.8 (ExCSSL) in vis–NIR–SWIR, but BraSpecS MIR models were more accurate in most situations. The development of external models based on the fusion of local samples with BSSL formed the Global Soil Spectral Library (GSSL). The GSSL models improved soil properties prediction for different countries. Nevertheless, the proposed system needs to be continually updated with new spectra so they can be applied broadly. Accordingly, the online system is dynamic, users can contribute their data and the models will adapt to local information. Our community-driven web platform allows users to predict soil attributes without learning soil spectral modeling, which will invite end-users to utilize this powerful technique.
Highlights
Introduction and ContextualizationSoil is an important component of the environment as it offers vital services such as food production, clean water, and carbon sequestration [1]
We developed an online service called The BraSpecS (Brazilian Soil Spectral Service) with support of the Geotechnologies in Soil Science Group (GEOCIS, https://esalqgeocis. wixsite.com/english accessed on 30 January 2022) Laboratory at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), University of São Paulo (USP)
To access the prediction module, the user must register on the platform with an email address to receive the results
Summary
Introduction and ContextualizationSoil is an important component of the environment as it offers vital services such as food production, clean water, and carbon sequestration [1]. The traditional soil laboratory has been the most common way to obtain soil data, but it is not environmentally friendly, and it becomes expensive when large amount of samples need to be analyzed [2]. This is especially crucial in developing countries, where farmers either do not conduct soil analysis due to high costs or the absence of locally accessible laboratory services. Traditional laboratory analysis is, and will continue to be, the most suitable way to obtain soil data Alternatives such as soil spectroscopy have proved to be a convenient way to optimize soil analysis and a rapid alternative to disseminate the results to all interested parties. A recent study [3] proved that wet laboratories’ analysis results have more variation between laboratories than between spectral sensors
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