Total carbon mapping in glacial till soils using near-infrared spectroscopy, Landsat imagery and topographical information

Accurate mapping of total soil carbon is important for reliable assessment of carbon sequestration potential from a field to regional scales. Highly variable soil and topographical attributes of glacial till terrain cause difficulties in mapping soil carbon based only on a limited number of soil samples. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate the feasibility of mapping total soil carbon using newly developed on-the-go near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements and Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) image reflectance in glacial till soils with and without additional topographical information. The studied field was about 50 ha in size and located in Kalamazoo County of Michigan. The predominant soil is Kalamazoo loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludalfs). NIRS spectra were collected along 22 north-south transects separated by a distance of 25 in and the distance between the measurements within a transect was equal to 5 in. The field was bare of vegetation and relatively dry during soil sampling. Landsat ETM imagery during soil sampling period was obtained. Eighty-five soil samples were collected on the NIRS transects from 0-10 cm depth. Principal component regression was used to relate NIRS spectra and ETM data to measured soil carbon. Regression coefficients between measured and predicted carbon values were equal to 0.70 and 0.46 using NIRS data and ETM imagery, respectively. When topographical attributes, such as elevation and terrain curvature were included into the regression model along with NIRS and ETM data, the regression coefficients improved to 0.81 and 0.62, respectively. The results indicated that combination of the NIRS and ETM measurements with topography is a valuable tool for accurate total carbon mapping in glacial till soils. Field soil moisture and texture were found to be helpful in explaining carbon variation and improving its prediction for ETM imagery data, but were not useful when added to NIRS measurements. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.