Evaluating the Precision and Accuracy of Proximal Soil vis–NIR Sensors for Estimating Soil Organic Matter and Texture

Measuring soil texture and soil organic matter (SOM) is essential given the way they affect the availability of crop nutrients and water during the growing season. Among the different proximal soil sensing (PSS) technologies, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) has been deployed to conduct rapid soil measurements in situ. This technique is indirect and, therefore, requires site- and data-specific calibration. The quality of soil spectra is affected by the level of soil preparation and can be accessed through the repeatability (precision) and predictability (accuracy) of unbiased measurements and their combinations. The aim of this research was twofold: First, to develop a novel method to improve data processing, focusing on the reproducibility of individual soil reflectance spectral elements of the visible and near-infrared (vis–NIR) kind, obtained using a commercial portable soil profiling tool, and their direct link with a selected set of soil attributes. Second, to assess both the precision and accuracy of the vis–NIR hyperspectral soil reflectance measurements and their derivatives, while predicting the percentages of sand, clay and SOM content, in situ as well as in laboratory conditions. Nineteen locations in three agricultural fields were identified to represent an extensive range of soils, varying from sand to clay loam. All measurements were repeated three times and a ratio spread over error (RSE) was used as the main indicator of the ability of each spectral parameter to distinguish among field locations with different soil attributes. Both simple linear regression (SLR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were used to define the predictability of % SOM, % sand, and % clay. The results indicated that when using a SLR, the standard error of prediction (SEP) for sand was about 10–12%, with no significant difference between in situ and ex situ measurements. The percentage of clay, on the other hand, had 3–4% SEP and 1–2% measurement precision (MP), indicating both the reproducibility of the spectra and the ability of a SLR to accurately predict clay. The SEP for SOM was only a quarter lower than the standard deviation of laboratory measurements, indicating that SLR is not an appropriate model for this soil property for the given set of soils. In addition, the MPs of around 2–4% indicated relatively strong spectra reproducibility, which indicated the need for more expanded models. This was apparent since the SEP of PLSR was always 2–3 times smaller than that of SLR. However, the relatively small number of test locations limited the ability to develop widely applicable calibration models. The most important finding in this study is that the majority of vis–NIR spectral measurements were sufficiently reproducible to be considered for distinguishing among diverse soil samples, while certain parts of the spectra indicate the capability to achieve this at α = 0.05. Therefore, the innovative methodology of evaluating both the precision and accuracy of DRS measurements will help future developers evaluate the robustness and applicability of any PSS instrument.

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