Spectral and spatial variability of the soils on the Maricopa Agricultural Center, Arizona.

Abstract

Dry and wet fine earth spectral measurements were made on the Ap soil surface horizons on the Maricopa Agricultural Center by using a Barnes Modular Multiband Radiometer. Three subsets were used in the analyses 552, 101 and 11. There were three soil series, Casa Grande, Shontik and Trix, four soil mapping units, and three texture classes identified on the farm. The wet soil condition reduced the amplitude of the spectral curves over the entire spectrum range (0.45 to 2.35 μm). The spectral curves were statistically related to the soil mapping units to determine if the soil mapping units and texture classes could be separated. The wet soil condition and the smaller sample size increased the correct classification percentages for soil mapping units and texture classes. LSD tests showed there were significant differences between these groups. Simple- and Multiple-linear regression analysis were used to relate some soil physical (sand, silt and clay contents and color components) and chemical (iron oxide, organic carbon and calcium carbonate contents) to soil spectral responses in the seven bands under dry and wet conditions. There were high correlations levels among the spectral bands showing an overlap of spectral information. Generally, the red (MMR3) and near-infrared (MMR4) bands had the highest correlations with the studied soil properties under dry and wet conditions. Usually, the wet soil condition resulted in higher correlations than that for the dry soil condition over the total spectrum range. The predictive equations for sand, silt and clay and iron oxide contents were satisfactory. For organic carbon and color components, the greatest success was achieved when variation in spectral response within individual samples are smaller than that between soil mapping unit group averages. There was a poor relation between calcium carbonate and spectral response. A comparison of multi-level remotely sensed data collected by SPOT, aircraft, and ground instruments showed a strong agreement among the data sets, which correlated well to fine earth data, except for the SPOT data. Rough soil surfaces showed a reduction in reflectance altitude compared to laser level, and it appears to be directly proportional to the percent shadow in the viewing area measured by SPOT satellite and aircraft.