Digital Soil Mapping and Advance in Research
Sun Xiao · T'u Jang T'ung Pao · 2013
Digital soil mapping has been largely accepted by the soil science community after two decades of research.It is now being practiced world-widely at various levels of soil survey and mapping,while its products have been used in vast fields of research and practice.Based on the past studies of this topic,this paper reviewed the theories,basic components,current main issues and future challenges and development of the topic.The theories mainly originated from three fields: pedogenesis,geography and mathematics,some of which were sometimes combined with another,e.g.,pedogenesis and geography,geography and mathematics.The four main components were soil covariates,soil sampling,spatial inference system and validation.Currently,studies focused on six aspects: producing and processing of soil covariates,soil data collection,spatial inference system,soil map validation,presentation and application.In the future,challenges are to increase mapping resolution and enlarge mapping area.Besides,as digital soil mapping becomes more and more mature,it will be applied into a more promising new area,i.e.,digital soil assessment,which is expected to significantly improve the functions and qualities of soil information service.