The Brazilian Soil Spectral Service (BraSpecS): A User-Friendly System for Global Soil Spectra Communication

Authors

José A. M. Demattê, University of São PauloFollow
Ariane Francine da Silveira Paiva, University of São PauloFollow
Raul Roberto Poppiel, University of São PauloFollow
Nícolas Augusto Rosin, University of São PauloFollow
Luis Fernando Chimelo Ruiz, University of São PauloFollow
Fellipe Alcantara de Oliveira Mello, University of São PauloFollow
Budiman Minasny, The University of SydneyFollow
Sabine Grunwald, University of FloridaFollow
Yufeng Ge, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Eyal Ben Dor, Tel Aviv UniversityFollow
Asa Gholizadeh, Czech University of Life Sciences PragueFollow
Cecile Gomez, University of MontpellierFollow
Sabine Chabrillat, Helmholtz Center Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences; Germany Leibniz University HannoverFollow
Nicolas Francos, Tel Aviv UniversityFollow
Shamsollah Ayoubi, Isfahan University of TechnologyFollow
Dian Fiantis, Universitas AndalasFollow
James Kobina Mensah Biney, Czech University of Life Sciences PragueFollow
Changkun Wang, Chinese Academy of SciencesFollow
Abdelaziz Belal, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS)Follow
Salman Naimi, Isfahan University of TechnologyFollow
Najmeh Asgari Hafshejani, Isfahan University of TechnologyFollow
Henrique Bellinaso, University of São PauloFollow
Jean Michel Moura-Bueno, University of Cruz AltaFollow
Nélida E. Q. Silvero, University of São PauloFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2022

Citation

Demattê, J.A.M.; Paiva, A.F.d.S.; Poppiel, R.R.; Rosin, N.A.; Ruiz, L.F.C.; Mello, F.A.d.O.; Minasny, B.; Grunwald, S.; Ge, Y.; Ben Dor, E.; et al. The Brazilian Soil Spectral Service (BraSpecS): A User-Friendly System for Global Soil Spectra Communication. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 740. https://doi.org/10.3390/ rs14030740

Comments

2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

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 Midinfrared (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.