IMPROVING A RECONNAISSANCE SOIL CLASSIFICATION BY MULTIVARIATE METHODS

An initial reconnaissance classification was difficult to use in soil survey in south-west Sabah, East Malaysia, because the most commonly occurring classes of soil (subdivisions of Orthic Acrisols in the FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World Legend) could not be distinguished consistently. Principal component, similarity, and canonical variate analyses showed that the classes that were originally thought to be desirable overlapped almost completely with respect to profile characters and chemical properties determined by routine analysis. New guidelines for classification were devised, and class overlap was minimized by reallocating profiles using multiple discriminant analysis. The final classification of the Orthic Acrisols represented a gradation from profiles containing fresh rock fragments and weatherable minerals to those containing none. Some of the last occurred on strongly pre-weathered sandstone; elsewhere they provided the main evidence for the remnants of a Pliocene land surface. To use the new classification consistently, estimates of total magnesium, potassium and phosphorus had to be included in routine chemical analyses. The revised classification was used successfully in subsequent reconnaissance survey work in south-west Sabah.     

Soil material classification for paddy soils in Japan

In view of the importance of soil material characteristics in determining paddy soil capability, a method of classification for soil materials was proposed. In working out the method special attention was paid to making it practically applicable, for the need is great for such a method of ready practical applicability especially in the alluvial soil areas in which most Japanese paddy soils occur.

An X-ray fluorescence spectrographic method for the total chemical analysis of soil materials proved satisfactory for routine use in terms of accuracy and time. Nine major elements (Si, Fe, Al, Ca, Mg, Mn, Ti, K, P) were analyzed and they were taken to represent the chemical nature of the soil material. The total chemical composition was combined with mechanical composition and subjected to data processing.

To avoid redundancy in information, 2 mutually independent principal components were extracted, which appear to represent different aspects of soil material features. From the 2 principal component scores taxonomic distance was computed as a similarity coefficient for use in numerical taxonomy.

By means of numerical taxonomy 8 Soil material classes were set up, each of which was characterized in terms of texture, base status, weatherable mineral reserve, etc. In order to facilitate objective placement of a new sample into one of the classes set up, discriminant functions were derived for all pairs of the 8 material classes. A figure showing the discriminant space that corresponds to the discriminant functions was prepared to make the practice of discrimination easy.

The 8 soil material classes appear to represent major varieties of paddy soil materials in Japan. The use of the soil material classes as a basis, of “soil family” separation m soil surveys would improve the homogeneity of the lower taxonomic units (“soil series”) and make their interpretation easier and more correct in relation to soil capability assessment.     

基于土壤水分动态的梯田苹果园水窖配置

针对如何合理配置水窖以解决黄土高原梯田种植苹果存在的水资源短缺问题,利用WEPP模型,在对0～200 cm土壤储水量动态变化模拟验证的基础上,以满足梯田苹果在不同典型代表年的生育期需水为目标,对水窖进行优化配置。结果表明:在更新土壤及作物管理数据库后,WEPP模型可实现对梯田苹果园0～200 cm土壤储水量的动态模拟;利用土壤水分动态变化选择典型年来进行水窖优化配置,更能满足苹果的需水要求;黄土丘陵沟壑区适宜的水窖配置干旱年为1 150 m3/hm2,平水年为180 m3/hm2,湿润年为50 m3/hm2。该研究为高效利用该区有限水资源提供了一种基于土壤水分动态变化来满足苹果生长需水的水窖优化配置方法。     

Gley morphology and soil water regimes in some soils in south-central england

A good correlation was observed between the development of gley morphology and period of saturation at a depth of 38 cm in 44 soil profiles from south-central England. Gley morphology in the surface horizon (13 cm depth) was a less reliable indicator of waterlogging. Drainage class assignment based on morphological evidence produced effective separation of soils based on their water regimes, characterised by the period of saturation at 38 cm. Although the relationships observed are probably restricted to soils developed on similar parent materials, the subjective identification and assessment of gley morphology may be an alternative to the absolute colour criteria currently used in many soil classification schemes.     

Evaluating soil maps for prediction of soil water properties

Conventional soil survey stratifies a region into mapping classes and characterizes each by a representative soil profile within it. The efficacy of the procedure for predicting particle-size fractions, bulk density, water retention, and available water capacity (AWC) of the soil at previously unvisited sites on the Plain of Languedoc in southern France is evaluated for three scales of survey (1/10 000, 1/25 000 and 1/100 000) and is compared to that of prediction from stratified random and simple random samples. Data from 85 soil profiles on a random transect were used for evaluation. Classification partitioned the variation of the measured properties, except for AWC, well at the 1/10 000 and 1/25 000 scales, whereas classification at the 1/100 000 scale was less effective. At the 1/10 000 and 1/25 000 scales both classification and stratified random sampling were better for prediction than simple random sampling for the same total sample. On average the representative profiles proved substantially better predictors than the stratified random samples, but in most situations where soil stratification performed well efficiencies of the two predictors were similar. In essence, the more successful the classification was the more difficult it was to improve prediction by selecting representatives instead of sampling randomly within classes. These results confirmed statistically that the soil surveyor can exercise intuition and judgement to classify and select representatives.     

THE RATE OF SOIL SURVEY IN BRITAIN

Typical rates of soil survey (area, length of boundary and number of observations per day or hour) are presented for routine surveys on 1:25,000 and 1:10,560 base maps by the Soil Surveys of Scotland, and of England and Wales, in five areas. The distance a soil surveyor walks between observations sites each day is highly correlated with (Area surveyed x No. of observation sites).     

Narrow soils and intricate soil patterns in Southern New England

Narrow bands of soils, 5 to 30 m wide, are common in southern New England immediately bordering wet areas, along drainageways, and where soil parent materials overlap or grade into one another. On the basis of detailed observations along 16- and 19-km trenches across representative landscapes, soil bodies less than 30 m wide occupy about 20% of the southern New England area. Yet on recently published soil survey maps such narrow soils seldom are delineated because of scale limitations, and the delineated areas less than 30 m wide occupy only about 1% of mapped areas. Narrow soils in forested areas are often more important than their width would indicate because of their influence on site quality, land use and natural-vegetation distribution.     

THE RELATION BETWEEN COST AND UTILITY IN SOIL SURVEY

This paper discusses how to compare the utility of soil maps. For three contrasting areas, in Southern England, it compares the utilities of a number of single-property and general purpose (series) soil maps, produced by free and grid survey, at map scales from 1 :20,000–1:70,000. The‘purity’of series mapping units increases with survey effort. Where the soil boundaries had fairly clear external expression free survey was superior to grid survey. On average the purity of maps by grid survey was higher than for maps by free survey at comparable survey effort. The uniformity of soil properties within mapping units was measured by relative variance (RV)= within-unit variance/total variance, (1–RV) indicates the increased precision achieved by the soil map. It increased with survey effort. For series maps by free or grid survey (1–RV) depended on how closely soil properties were associated with profile classes, and on the extent to which soil boundaries could be mapped on their external expression. Free survey was preferred at scales between 1: 100,000 and 1:30,000, when the soil boundaries could be mapped on their external expression, (1–RV) for the profile classes on which the mapping units are defined puts a ceiling to the utility of series maps (grid or free) which is already nearly achieved at map scales near 1:25,000. Except for properties very poorly associated with profile classes, single property maps do not have great advantage over series maps at medium map scales, but they attain higher values of (1–RV) at scales greater than 1: 25,000.     

VARIABILITY IN THREE AREAS OF THE DENCHWORTH SOIL MAP UNIT

Variability of soil within three areas of the Denchworth map unit in southern England Has been investigated by describing and analysing samples from thirty profiles located at the intersects of a randomly oriented grid. The Denchworth series has been mapped over several stratigraphically different clays, and the areas chosen provide three groups of profiles developed over Gault (Cretaceous), Kimmeridge, and Oxford (Jurassic) Clay respectively. Purity of the map unit, estimated as the percentage of profiles whose data agree with the definition of the Denchworth series, was 60 per cent, which is comparable with values for other map units both near by and elsewhere. The variability of individual properties as indicated by coefficients of variation differed widely. Generally, physical properties were more uniform than chemical properties. The Denchworth map unit can consequently be treated uniformly for aspects of land management related to soil physical properties but it provides little guidance for fertilizer application. A small amount of variability can be attributed to mapping together those soils developed in material derived from stratigraphically different clays, but is insufficient to justify separating them.     

SOIL CLASSIFICATION IN THE SOIL SURVEY OF ENGLAND AND WALES

The development of soil classification as a basis for soil mapping in England and Wales is briefly reviewed, and a system for future use is described. The things classified are soil profiles, and classes are defined by relatively permanent characteristics that can be observed or measured in the field, or inferred within limits from field examination by comparison with analysed samples. Profile classes are defined at four categorical levels by progressive division, and are termed major groups, groups, subgroups, and soil series respectively. Classes in the three higher categories are defined partly by the composition of the soil material and partly by the presence or absence of particular diagnostic horizons, or evidence of recent alluvial origin, within specified depths. Soil series are distinguished by other characteristics, chiefly lithologic, not differentiating in higher categories. Most of the soil groups, regarded as the principal category above the soil series, are closely paralleled in other European systems, in the U.S.D.A. system (7th Approximation with subsequent amendments), or in both. Compared with the system used hitherto, the main innovations are the use of specific soil properties to define classes at all categorical levels, and the separation at group level of classes based primarily on inherited lithologic characteristics. The soil-profile classification provides a uniform basis for identifying soil map units, considered as classes of delineated soil bodies. When a map unit is identified by the name of a profile class, it is implied that most of the soil in each delineation conforms to that class, and that unconforming inclusions belong to one or more closely related classes or occupy an insignificant proportionate area. Map units identified by land attributes not differentiating in the profile classification are termed phases.     

运用分类树进行土壤类型自动制图的研究

提供了一种基于机器学习的方法来自动建立针对土壤资源制图的规则库。以浙江省龙游县研究区为例,将已有的土壤图与地质图、土地利用现状图、DEM及其派生属性、双时相的TM卫星数据相结合,使用分类树算法从训练数据中生成该地区土壤制图的规则知识,并进行了研究区土壤类型的知识分类。这种建立土壤自动制图知识库的方法要比传统的知识获取方法更为简便易行。精度评价结果表明,所建立的知识库对于研究区的大部分土壤类型的预测是可行的。     

自动土壤图基于知识的分类

A machine-learning approach was developed for automated building of knowledge bases for soil resources mapping by using a classification tree to generate knowledge from training data. With this method, building a knowledge base for automated soil mapping was easier than using the conventional knowledge acquisition approach. The knowledge base built by classification tree was used by the knowledge classifier to perform the soil type classification of Longyou County, Zhejiang Province, China using Landsat TM bi-temporal images and GIS data. To evaluate the performance of the resultant knowledge bases, the classification results were compared to existing soil map based on a field survey. The accuracy assessment mad maalysis of the resultant soil maps suggested that the knowledge bases built by the machine-learning method was of good quality for mapping distribution model of soll classes over the study area.     

依据传统土壤数据应用数字土壤制图法对香港山地地区土壤建立土纲信息

Based on legacy soil data from a soil survey conducted recently in the traditional manner in Hong Kong of China, a digital soil mapping method was applied to produce soil order information for mountain areas of Hong Kong. Two modeling methods (decision tree analysis and linear discriminant analysis) were used, and their applications were compared. Much more eflort was put on selecting soil covariates for modeling. First, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the variance of terrain attributes between soil orders. Then, a stepwise procedure was used to select soil covariates for linear discriminant analysis, and a backward removing procedure was developed to select soil covariates for tree modeling. At the same time, ANOVA results, as well as our knowledge and experience on soil mapping, were also taken into account for selecting soil covariates for tree modeling. Two linear discriminant models and four tree models were established finally, and their prediction performances were validated using a multiple jackknifing approach. Results showed that the discriminant model built on ANOVA results performed best, followed by the discriminant model built by stepwise, the tree model built by the backward removing procedure, the tree model built according to knowledge and experience on soil mapping, and the tree model built automatically. The results highlighted the importance of selecting soil covariates in modeling for soil mapping, and suggested the usefulness of methods used in this study for selecting soil covariates. The best discriminant model was finally selected to map soil orders for this area, and validation results showed that thus produced soil order map had a high accuracy.     

Fuzzy classification methods for determining land suitability from soil profile observations and topography

Because conventional Boolean retrieval of soil survey data and logical models for assessing land suitability treat both spatial units and attribute value ranges as exactly specifiable quantities, they ignore the continuous nature of soil and landscape variation and uncertainties in measurement which can result in the misclassification of sites that just fail to match strictly defined requirements. This paper uses fuzzy classification to determine land suitability from (i) multivariate point observations of soil attributes, (ii) topographically controlled site drainage conditions, and (iii) minimum contiguous areas, and compares the results obtained with conventional Boolean methods. The methods are illustrated using data from the Alberta Agricultural Department experimental farm at Lacombe in Alberta, Canada. Data on site elevation and soil chemical and physical properties measured at 154 soil profiles were interpolated by ordinary block kriging to 15 m × 15 m cells on a 50 × 50 grid. The soil property data for each cell were classified by Boolean and fuzzy methods. The digital elevation model created by interpolating the elevation data was used to determine the surface drainage network and map it in terms of the numbers of cells draining through each cell on the grid. This map was reclassified to yield Boolean and fuzzy maps of surface wetness which were then intersected with the soil profile classes. The resulting classification maps were examined for contiguity to locate areas where a block of minimum size (45m × 45m) could be located successfully. In this study Boolean methods reject larger numbers of cells than fuzzy classification, and select cells that are insufficiently contiguous to meet the aims of the land classification. Fuzzy methods produce contiguous areas and reject less information at all stages of the analyses than Boolean methods. They are much better than Boolean methods for classification of continuous variation, such as the results of the drainage analysis.     

The genesis and classification of soils on wet terraces and moraines in New Zealand

Six soils on glacial outwash terraces and one on moraine are discussed; four are formed partly in loess of unknown age. Evidence of podzolization is apparent in all profiles, but the vertical drainage under very high rainfall is insufficient to remove surplus water. Gley processes appear to dominate, in a perched-water environment.
Podzolic B horizons were identified in the same five profiles following both the Canadian system and that used by the Soil Survey of England and Wales. However, only three of these profiles could be allocated to existing podzolic subgroups in the latter system. Spodic horizons were identified in a different group of five profiles. Differences in classification are discussed with reference to the criteria used and in relation to proposals for revision of the New Zealand Soil Classification.     

A REAPPRAISAL OF SOIL MAPPING IN AN AREA OF SOUTHERN SCOTLAND. PART II THE USEFULNESS OF SOME MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AND OF A DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS IN DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE DOMINANT TAXA OF FOUR MAPPING UNITS

Results of a two-stage random sample survey were used to give information about the usefulness of some soil morphological properties for distinguishing between the four taxonomic units, all gley or gleyed soils. A multivariate logistic method of discriminant analysis was used. The classifications by soil surveyors and by the statistical analysis were mainly in good agreement, but many generally accepted B horizon criteria used for assessing hydromorphism were of little value in discriminating between the soils under study. Depth to gleying and secondary lithology, were valuable distinguishing properties while the matrix colour value, texture and structure of the B horizons were useful in some instances. Serious consideration of the role of statistical techniques, such as discriminant analysis, is advocated both as a guide to those who design soil taxonomies and as an aid to field identification.     

The carbon content of soil and its geographical distribution in Great Britain

Abstract. England and Wales have 155 314 1 × 1 km squares, of which 140049 have more than 50% soil cover. The total soil organic carbon content, based on the dominant soil series and dominant land cover type, is estimated to be 2773 × 10⁶ t C. Scotland has 84929 1 × 1 km squares, of which 82 420 have a nominated dominant soil series. The total soil organic carbon content is estimated to be 19011 × 10⁶ t C, 6.85 times the total organic carbon content of the soil of England and Wales. The total organic carbon content of the soil of Great Britain is estimated to be 21 784 × 10⁶ t C, of which 87% is in Scottish soils and 75% is in Scottish peats. A map of the mean soil organic carbon content of 10 × 10 km squares of the National Grid using classes of equal range illustrates the narrow range of organic carbon contents of the soils of England and Wales and the dominance of organic carbon in Scottish soils. A map using the same data, but with classes of unequal ranges increasing in size with increasing carbon content, is better for showing detailed differences within England and Wales.     

A method for identification and mapping potentially acid sulfate soils in Jutland, Denmark

A method for mapping potentially acid sulfate soils in Jutland, Denmark is described. First the wetlands were outlined, using already existing topographic maps. Then 7900 profiles, evenly distributed over the wetland areas, were examined to point out areas with potentially acid sulfate soils. The method used to identify potentially acid sulfate material was, for carbonate-free samples, a pH-measuring at the sampling time and after the samples were inoculated with soil water extract from an acid sulfate soil and 2, 8 or 16 weeks of incubation. For carbonate-containing samples the pyrite content was compared to the acid-neutralizing capacity. A map was constructed showing the ratio of profiles containing potentially acid sulfate soil samples to total number of profiles examined within natural geographical wetland regions.The investigation showed that 35% of the wetlands in Jutland have a high frequency of potentially acid sulfate soils.     

基于电磁感应的典型干旱区土壤盐分空间异质性

为研究干旱区土壤盐分空间异质性,指导农业生产实践,运用大地电导率仪（EM38、EM31）对研究区域进行移动式磁感调查,获取表观电导率（ECa）。同时,通过27个校准点的采样和ECa测量,建立土壤盐分的电磁感应解译模型。干旱区土壤盐分质量分数与EM38、EM31水平模式读数（H38、H31）显示出良好的相关性（R=0.935）,可以利用ECa结合GIS和地统计学知识研究土壤盐分的空间分布。采用两种方法进行研究：一种是先利用解译模型获取磁感调查点的土壤盐分质量分数,然后进行地统计分析研究其空间分布;另一种是先利用地统计分析研究H38和H31的空间分布,然后利用解译模型通过栅格运算计算盐分质量分数,精度检验显示前者预测值与实测值之间的相关性更好（R2, 0.888＞0.873）;标准差较低（std. 0.414＜0.426）,具有更高的预测精度。研究结果表明,基于电磁感应研究干旱区土壤盐分空间异质性是切实可行的,这对于土壤盐渍化的快速诊断,指导农业生产和促进精准农业的发展具有重要的意义。