Sampling and Calibration Requirements for Optical Reflectance Soil Property Sensors for Korean Paddy Soils

Optical diffuse reflectance sensing has potential for rapid and reliable on-site estimation of soil properties. For good results, proper calibration to measured soil properties is required. One issue is whether it is necessary to develop calibrations using samples from the specific area or areas (e.g., field, soil series) in which the sensor will be applied, or whether a general "factory" calibration is sufficient. A further question is if specific calibration is required, how many sample points are needed. In this study, these issues were addressed using data from 42 paddy fields representing 14 distinct soil series accounting for 74% of the total Korean paddy field area. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to develop calibrations between soil properties and reflectance spectra. Model evaluation was based on coefficient of determination ($R^2$) root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), and RPD, the ratio of standard deviation to RMSEP. When sample data from a soil series were included in the calibration stage (full information calibration), RPD values of prediction models were increased by 0.03 to 3.32, compared with results from calibration models not including data from the test soil series (calibration without site-specific information). Higher $R^2$ values were also obtained in most cases. Including some samples from the test soil series (hybrid calibration) generally increased RPD rapidly up to a certain number of sample points. A large portion of the potential improvement could be obtained by adding about 8 to 22 points, depending on the soil properties to be estimated, where the numbers were 10 to 18 for pH, 18-22 for EC, and 8 to 22 for total C. These results provide guidance on sampling and calibration requirements for NIR soil property estimation.

광반사를 이용한 한국 논 토양 특성센서를 위한 샘플링과 캘리브레이션 요구조건