Using Soil Color/Reflectance in Predicting Soil Properties

Correlations of soil components, value and chroma with selected soil physical and chemical properties from 563 surface soil samples from the Great Plains area, USA revealed that clay, organic carbon, cation exchange capacity and water held at 1/3 and 15 bars were most highly correlated. Regression correlations based on these soil color components were developed to estimate many soil properties. Surface soil samples from two study sites located in Boone County, Missouri, USA were measured by a laboratory spectral meter. These measurements showed that soil physical and chemical properties could be predicted from reflectance measurements especially in the near infrared region. A Landsat image taken over the same study sites during Spring, 1977 showed that soil reflectance could be used to assist the soil scientist in locating soil boundaries especially when there were contrasts in texture, organic matter or moisture capacity