skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Soil Carbon Estimation From Hyperspectral Imagery With Wavelet Decomposition and Frame Theory
Assessing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is crucial for understanding the carbon sequestration potential of agroecosystems and for mitigating climate change. This study presents a novel method for assessing SOC and mineral content at various soil depths in sorghum crops using hyperspectral remote sensing. Conducted at Planthaven Farms, MO, the research encompassed ten genotypes across 30 plots, yielding 180 soil samples from six depth intervals (0–150 cm) of bare soil. Chemical analyses determined the SOC and mineral levels, which were then compared to spectral data from HySpex indoor sensors. We utilized time-frequency analysis methods, including discrete wavelet transformation (DWT), continuous wavelet transformation (CWT), and frame transformation along with traditional spectral transformations, specifically fractional derivatives and continuum removal. The analysis revealed the shortwave infrared (SWIR) region, particularly the 1800–2000 nm range, as having the strongest correlations with SOC content (with R2 exceeding 0.8). The visible near-infrared (VNIR) region also provided valuable insights. Models incorporating CWT achieved high accuracy (test R2 exceeding 0.9), while frame transformation achieved strong accuracy (test R2 between 0.7 and 0.8) with fewer features. The random forest regressor (RFR) proved to be most robust, demonstrating superior accuracy and reduced overfitting compared to support vector regression (SVR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), and deep neural network (DNN) models. The models demonstrated the efficacy of hyperspectral data for SOC estimation, suggesting potential for future applications that integrate this data with above-ground biomass to improve SOC mapping across larger scales. This research offers a promising spectral transformation approach for effective carbon management and sustainable agriculture in a changing climate.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2154931
PAR ID:
10595741
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Date Published:
Journal Name:
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Volume:
62
ISSN:
0196-2892
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 12
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. null (Ed.)
    The extent, timing, and magnitude of soil moisture in wetlands (the hydropattern) is a primary physical control on biogeochemical processes in desert environments. However, determining playa hydropatterns is challenged by the remoteness of desert basin sites and by the difficulty in determining soil moisture from remotely sensed data at fine spatial and temporal scales (hundreds of meters to kilometers, and hours to days). Therefore, we developed a new, reflectance-based soil moisture index (continuum-removed water index, or CRWI) that can be determined via hyperspectral imaging from drone-borne platforms. We compared its efficacy at remotely determining soil moisture content to existing hyperspectral and multispectral soil moisture indices. CRWI varies linearly with in situ soil moisture content (R2 = 0.89, p < 0.001) and is comparatively insensitive to soil clay content (R2 = 0.4, p = 0.01), soil salinity (R2 = 0.82, p < 0.001), and soil grain size distribution (R2 = 0.67, p < 0.001). CRWI is negatively correlated with clay content, indicating it is not sensitive to hydrated mineral absorption features. CRWI has stronger correlation with surface soil moisture than other hyperspectral and multispectral indices (R2 = 0.69, p < 0.001 for WISOIL at this site). Drone-borne reflectance measurements allow monitoring of soil moisture conditions at the Alvord Desert playa test site over hectare-scale soil plots at measurement cadences of minutes to hours. CRWI measurements can be used to determine surface soil moisture at a range of desert sites to inform management decisions and to better reveal ecosystem processes in water-limited environments. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract Understanding soil organic carbon (SOC) response to global change has been hindered by an inability to map SOC at horizon scales relevant to coupled hydrologic and biogeochemical processes. Standard SOC measurements rely on homogenized samples taken from distinct depth intervals. Such sampling prevents an examination of fine‐scale SOC distribution within a soil horizon. Visible near‐infrared hyperspectral imaging (HSI) has been applied to intact monoliths and split cores surfaces to overcome this limitation. However, the roughness of these surfaces can influence HSI spectra by scattering reflected light in different directions posing challenges to fine‐scale SOC mapping. Here, we examine the influence of prescribed surface orientation on reflected spectra, develop a method for correcting topographic effects, and calibrate a partial least squares regression (PLSR) model for SOC prediction. Two empirical models that account for surface slope, aspect, and wavelength and two theoretical models that account for the geometry of the spectrometer were compared using 681 homogenized soil samples from across the United States that were packed into sample wells and presented to the spectrometer at 91 orientations. The empirical approach outperformed the more complex geometric models in correcting spectra taken at non‐flat configurations. Topographically corrected spectra reduced bias and error in SOC predicted by PLSR, particularly at slope angles greater than 30°. Our approach clears the way for investigating the spatial distributions of multiple soil properties on rough intact soil samples. 
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    A major limitation to building credible soil carbon sequestration programs is the cost of measuring soil carbon change. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is considered a viable low-cost alternative to traditional laboratory analysis of soil organic carbon (SOC). While numerous studies have shown that DRS can produce accurate and precise estimates of SOC across landscapes, whether DRS can detect subtle management induced changes in SOC at a given site has not been resolved. Here, we leverage archived soil samples from seven long-term research trials in the U.S. to test this question using mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopy coupled with the USDA-NRCS Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory MIR spectral library. Overall, MIR-based estimates of SOC%, with samples scanned on a secondary instrument, were excellent with the root mean square error ranging from 0.10 to 0.33% across the seven sites. In all but two instances, the same statistically significant (p < 0.10) management effect was found using both the lab-based SOC% and MIR estimated SOC% data. Despite some additional uncertainty, primarily in the form of bias, these results suggest that large existing MIR spectral libraries can be operationalized in other laboratories for successful carbon monitoring. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Conceptual and empirical advances in soil biogeochemistry have challenged long-held assumptions about the role of soil micro-organisms in soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics; yet, rigorous tests of emerging concepts remain sparse. Recent hypotheses suggest that microbial necromass production links plant inputs to SOC accumulation, with high-quality (i.e., rapidly decomposing) plant litter promoting microbial carbon use efficiency, growth, and turnover leading to more mineral stabilization of necromass. We test this hypothesis experimentally and with observations across six eastern US forests, using stable isotopes to measure microbial traits and SOC dynamics. Here we show, in both studies, that microbial growth, efficiency, and turnover are negatively (not positively) related to mineral-associated SOC. In the experiment, stimulation of microbial growth by high-quality litter enhances SOC decomposition, offsetting the positive effect of litter quality on SOC stabilization. We suggest that microbial necromass production is not the primary driver of SOC persistence in temperate forests. Factors such as microbial necromass origin, alternative SOC formation pathways, priming effects, and soil abiotic properties can strongly decouple microbial growth, efficiency, and turnover from mineral-associated SOC. 
    more » « less
  5. Understanding the mineralogy and geochemistry of the subsurface is key when assessing and exploring for mineral deposits. To achieve this goal, rapid acquisition and accurate interpretation of drill core data are essential. Hyperspectral shortwave infrared imaging is a rapid and non-destructive analytical method widely used in the minerals industry to map minerals with diagnostic features in core samples. In this paper, we present an automated method to interpret hyperspectral shortwave infrared data on drill core to decipher major felsic rock-forming minerals using supervised machine learning techniques for processing, masking, and extracting mineralogical and textural information. This study utilizes a co-registered training dataset that integrates hyperspectral data with quantitative scanning electron microscopy data instead of spectrum matching using a spectral library. Our methodology overcomes previous limitations in hyperspectral data interpretation for the full mineralogy (i.e., quartz and feldspar) caused by the need to identify spectral features of minerals; in particular, it detects the presence of minerals that are considered invisible in traditional shortwave infrared hyperspectral analysis. 
    more » « less