SOIL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Dr. SOMSUBHRA CHAKRABORTY

AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD ENGINEERING
IIT KHARAGPUR

Topic
REMEDIATION OF SOIL ORGANIC POLLUTION
Concepts Covered:

Physical and chemical method

Bioremediation

Phytoremediation

Effects of ageing on bio availability of

contaminants in soils
Remediation of soil organic pollution

Organic pollutants can be cleaned by modifying the agroecosystems

This can be achieved by
1. Physical and chemical methods
2. Bioremediation
3. Phytoremediation
 Remediation of soil organic pollution
Rapid, very
expensive, more
disruptive

Slow, least expensive,

less disruptive

Reynolds et al. (1999)

Physical and chemical methods

Ex-situ and in-situ treatment

Soil is excavated and transported in ex-situ treatment
Incineration, leaching, vacuum pumping etc is done to address the pollutant
Ex-situ is highly expensive and disrupts the soil but it is the only option when
the soil is extremely polluted
In-situ treatment uses same process as ex-situ
However, it reduces the excavation and transportation costs
Contaminants may be eliminated or immobilized in soil
Physical and chemical methods

Surfactant
Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (or
interfacial tension) between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid,
or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents,
wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.
Physical and chemical methods

Surfactant
The ability of surfactants to reduce
the interfacial energy is related to the
polar-nonpolar structure of their
molecules. A surfactant molecule
consists of two different groups: a
hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic
tail. Such dual structure of surfactants
is essential for reduction of the
energy on the interface between a
polar and non-polar phases.
Physical and chemical methods

Surfactant
Used to remove oil and hydrophobic contaminants
Surfactant makes the pollutant available to microbial degradation
It dissolves the pollutants which is then leached or pumped out
Physical and chemical methods

Organoclays
Certain surfactants replaces the metal cations in clays
Example: Quartenary Ammonium Compounds (QACs) replaces K+ in clay

The modified clay known as ‘organoclay’ attracts non-polar compounds

and immobilize them until natural degradation takes place
Physical and chemical methods
Distribution coefficient, Kd
Kd is the ratio of the pollutant sorbed in soil
to the one present in solution

Higher the Kd, more the contaminant in soil

than in solution, the stronger the pollutant
is held by soil and the lesser it leaches
Organic matter rich soils and organoclays
have higher Kd
This strongly adsorbed pollutant is then
naturally degraded by microbes Ray R. Weil
Bioremediation

Bioremediation involves the use of enhanced plant and microbes to

degrade/transform pollutants to non toxic forms
Types of bioremediation
Intrinsic Enhanced

aka, Natural attenuation aka, Engineered remediation

“Let nature take its course” Biostimulation
Degradative activities effected by Alteration of the environment to enhance
indigenous microbes under ambient activities effected by indigenous microbes
conditions
No intervention to alter aspects of
Bioaugmentation
the environment affecting microbial
activity Inoculation of organisms to introduce a
type of catalysis not displayed by the
indigenous community
Natural attenuation: examples
Chlorinated solvents (PCE, TCE):
environment: anaerobic
process: reductive dechlorination (e- acceptor)
products: vinyl chloride, ethylene
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs):
environment: anaerobic
process: reductive dechlorination
products: dechlorinated PCBs (6 Cl -> 4 Cl)
Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX):
environment: anaerobic
process: C assimilation, e- donor
products: biomass, mineralized BTEX
Natural attenuation of PCBs
PCBs in anaerobic environments transformed by reductive
dehalogenation
Mediated by anaerobes; both growth-supporting and
cometabolic mechanisms
Key process in the environmental fate of PCBs in sediments
Highly chlorinated PCBs are transformed preferentially

End products are PCBs, but with fewer Cl atoms than parent
compound
Enhanced bioremediation

Bioaugmentation
Special microbes which degrade the pollutant is introduced into the soil
These microorganisms degrade the pollutant more readily than native
population
Bioremediation

Biostimulation
Assisting the degradation of pollutant by native microbial populations is called
biostimulation
Four major principles are followed to enhance the native microbial activity
1. Make the pollutant accessible to microbe (e.g. using surfactants)
2. Provide sufficient nutrient source for microbe (especially N and P)
3. Supplying electron donor, C (e.g. Molasses) and
4. Supplying electron acceptor, O (e.g. oxygen pumping) to the microbe
Oil spill cleanup
Clearing oil spills in cooler and nutrient poor regions is very slower
This is due to lack of N and P source for oil degrading microbes and also slow
reactions at low temperatures
Special oil soluble N and P fertilizers are applied here
Apart from providing N and P, they also disperse the oil making them more
available to the microbes

Oil spill treatment in

controlled vs fertilized plot
 In-situ bioremediation techniques
In oxygen depleted soils, O2 is pumped and
methane is provided as a carbon source

Coarse textured sandy soils are easy to remediate

than fine textured clay soils

Hazen (1995)
Phytoremediation

The use of plants to eliminate/degrade pollutants

Phytostabilization: The plants stabilize the pollutant and prevent it from ready
movement
Mechanisms in phytostabilization
1. These plants prevent the wind and water erosion of contaminant
2. Leaching is reduced
3. The contaminant is precipitated in the root zone
4. The contaminant is sequestered in roots
The pollutant does not leave the soil, it is only stabilized
Phytoremediation

Hyperaccumulation: Accumulation of unusually high concentration of

contaminants in above ground plant tissue
These plants are specially selected for this purpose
The contaminants can either be eliminated by
Harvesting the plant tissue or
They are broken down inside the plants into non-toxic secondary products
Phytoremediation
Enhanced rhizosphere phytodegradation: The plant roots excrete microbial
substrates and growth regulators which enhances the activity of rhizosphere
bacteria to degrade pollutants

Ray R. Weil
Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation is advantageous where large area is contaminated to shallow

depths with moderate amount of pollutants
Less expensive
Less disturbance to soil
Longer time to remove contaminants
Effect of ageing on bioavailability of
chemicals in soils
Bioavailability of the contaminants to
degradation decreases with time,
even though their concentrations in
soil remain high. This happens as
a) Contaminants get trapped in nano
pores
b) Contaminants are absorbed into
humus
c) Contaminants gets buried under
precipitated mineral coatings
Ray R. Weil,Alexander (2000) and Stokes et al. (2005)
Effect of ageing on bioavailability of
contaminants in soils
All these processes make the contaminant less prone to environmental risks
Bioavailability should be taken into consideration before taking remediation
activities
Removal of any contaminant should be based on its bioavailability rather than
its total concentration
 SOIL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Dr. SOMSUBHRA CHAKRABORTY
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD ENGINEERING
IIT KHARAGPUR

Topic
SOIL CONTAMINATION WITH TOXIC INORGANIC SUBSTANCES
Concepts Covered:

 What are the toxic inorganic substances

 Sources of these pollutants

 Accumulation in soils

 Some important toxic metals

 Toxic metals in sewage and sludge

 Toxic inorganic substances in soil
• The toxicity of inorganic contaminants released into the environment every
year is now estimated to exceed that from organic and radioactive sources
combined.
• A fair share of these inorganic substances ends up contaminating soils.
• The greatest problems most likely involve mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic,
nickel, copper, zinc, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, selenium,
fluorine, and boron.
• To a greater or lesser degree, all of these elements are toxic to humans and
other animals.
Toxic inorganic substances in soil
Sources and health effects of selected
inorganic soil pollutants
 Accumulation in soil
• Some of these toxic metals are being released to the environment in increasing
amounts.
• The inorganic toxins do not decompose and degrade; rather they usually remain
in the soil and so accumulate from year to year. In many places, the metal
contamination is historical, resulting from polluting activities that are no longer
practiced.
 Accumulation in soil

History of copper, lead and zinc

contamination of soils in central
Moscow, Russia. The copper
concentration is greatest in the oldest
layers because of ancient artisanal
metal working. Such legacy metal
contamination exists in many older
cities around the world.
 Concentration in living tissues

• Irrespective of their sources, people everywhere are exposed to these toxic

elements every day, either through the air or through ingestion of food, water,
and soil.
• Toxic metals can and do reach the soil by direct or indirect deposition, and from
there they become part of the food chain: soil–plant–animal–human.
• Unfortunately, once the elements become part of this cycle, they may
accumulate in animal and human body tissue to toxic levels.
 Sources and cycling of the toxic metals

It should be noted that the content

of metals in organism tissue
generally builds up from left to
right, indicating the vulnerability
of humans (as secondary and
tertiary food web consumers) to
heavy metal toxicity. Note that air,
water, and soil may also be directly
ingested by humans.
An example
 Some inorganic contaminants and their
reactions in soils
 Arsenic
• The problem is its accumulation in certain orchard soils following years of application of
arsenic-containing pesticides.
• Being present in an anionic form (e.g., H2AsO4−), this element is absorbed (as are
phosphates) by hydrous iron and aluminum oxides, especially in acid soils.
• In spite of the capacity of most soils to tie up arsenates, long-term additions of arsenical
sprays can lead to toxicities for sensitive plants and earthworms.
• The arsenic toxicity can be reduced by applications of sulfates of zinc, iron, and aluminum,
which tie up the arsenic in insoluble forms.
Lead

• It contaminates primarily urban soils from vehicle exhaust and from old
lead-pigmented paints (paint chips and dust from painted woodwork).
• Most of the lead is tied up in the soil as low solubility carbonates, sulfides,
and in combination with iron, aluminum, and manganese oxides.
• Consequently, the lead is largely unavailable to plants and not mobile
enough to readily leach to groundwater.
• However, it can be absorbed by children who put contaminated soil or dust
in their mouths.
 The effect of prenatal
exposure to lead upon
the mental
development of
infants. Lead
exposure is measured
by its concentration in
the blood of the
umbilical cord. “Low”
corresponds to <3 μg
/dL, “medium” to an
average of 6.7 μg/dL,
and “high” to >10
μg/dL.
Figure 9-5. Baird, Environmental Chemistry, 1995
 Mercury

• It is released mainly from burning coal to generate electricity. When it contaminates lake
sediments and wetlands, the result is toxic levels of mercury among certain species of fish.
• Insoluble forms of mercury in soils, not normally available to plants or, in turn, to animals, are
converted by microorganisms to an organic form, methylmercury, which is more soluble and
available for plant and animal absorption.
• The methylmercury is concentrated in fatty tissue as it moves up the food chain, until it
accumulates in some fish to levels that may be toxic to humans.
• This series of transformations illustrates how reactions in soil can influence human toxicities.
Mercury

Biological and
chemical
transformations of
mercury in the soil
Mercury pathways
in aquatic systems

http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1215/major_findings.htm
http://www.ec.gc.ca/MERCURY/EN/bf.cfm
 Chromium

• In trace amounts is essential for human life, but, like arsenic, it is a carcinogen
when absorbed in larger doses.
• This element is widely used in steel, alloys, and paint pigments.
• Chromium is found in two major oxidation states in upland soils: a trivalent
form [Cr(III)], and a hexavalent form [Cr(VI)].
• In contrast to most metals, the more highly oxidized state [Cr(VI)] is the more
soluble, and its solubility increases above pH 5.5.
• This behavior is opposite that of Cr(III), which forms insoluble oxides and
hydroxides above that pH level.
 Fluorine
• The toxicity of F is also generally localized.
• Drinking water for animals and fluoride fumes from industrial processes often contain toxic amounts of
fluorine.
• The fumes can be ingested directly by animals or deposited on nearby plants.
• If the fluorides are adsorbed by the soil, their uptake by plants is restricted.
• The fluorides formed in soils are highly insoluble, the solubility being least if the soil has a pH above
neutral and high calcium saturation.
 Selenium
• Derives mainly from certain soil parent material, can accumulate in soils and plants to toxic levels,
especially in arid regions.
 Potential hazards of chemicals in sewage
sludge
 Heavy metals in the sewage and sludge:
• Most attention has been given to zinc, copper, nickel, cadmium, and lead,
which are commonly present in significant levels in these sludge.
• The sludge treated soils, as well as the bodies of earthworms living in
these soils, were much higher in cadmium and zinc than was the case in
soils where sludge had not been applied. One would expect further
concentration to take place in the tissue of birds and fish that might
consume the earthworms.
• Direct ingestion of soils and sludge is also an important pathway for
human and animal exposure.
 SOIL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Dr. SOMSUBHRA CHAKRABORTY
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD ENGINEERING
IIT KHARAGPUR

Topic
REMEDIATION OF SOIL INORGANIC POLLUTION
Concepts Covered:

 What is remediation

 Different methods of remediation

Primary methods for the remediation

Remediation: The process of reversing or stopping environmental damage.

Three primary methods of alleviating soil contamination by toxic inorganic compounds are:
(1) to eliminate or drastically reduce the amounts of toxin applied to or allowed
to reach the soil;
(2) to immobilize the toxin by means of soil management, to prevent it from
moving into food or water supplies; and
(3) in the case of severe contamination, to remove the toxin from the soil by
chemical, physical, or biological remediation.
Reducing soil application
Reducing unintentional contamination from
industrial operations and from automobile,
truck, and bus exhausts.
Potential contamination issues from the
improper disposal of discarded electronics
are of increasing concern (tin, lead,
beryllium cadmium, mercury).
Also, there must be judicious reductions in
intended applications to soil of the toxins
through pesticides (arsenic, copper),
fertilizers (cadmium, zinc), irrigation water
(selenium, boron), and composted solid
wastes.
Immobilizing the toxins
Most of these elements are rendered less mobile
and less available if the pH is kept near neutral or
above.
Draining wet soils can be beneficial, since the
oxidized forms of the several toxic elements are
generally less soluble and less available for plant
uptake than are the reduced forms.
Heavy phosphate applications may reduce the
availability of metal cations such as lead that
react with P to form insoluble compounds. But
opposite effect may be realized with arsenic.
Application of organic matter, especially heavy
applications of compost, generally reduces the
mobility and bioavailability of many of the
inorganic toxins and bioconcentration in plants.
Immobilizing the toxins
Select food plants very carefully:
Generally, plants translocate much larger quantities of
metals to their leaves than to their fruits or seeds.
Root vegetables can also be problematic. Fruits or grains
only rarely accumulate high concentration of metals.
The greatest risk for food-chain contamination with metals
is therefore through leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and
spinach, or through forage crops eaten by livestock.
On the other hand, nonfood plants with a high propensity
to take up metals from contaminated soil can be put to
good use for remediation.
Bioremediation by metal hyperaccumulating
Plants
Plants also differ widely in their responses to the accumulation of
high concentrations of metals in their roots
Some die, some survive by sequestering the metal in their root
tissue, while others thrive and translocate the metal to their shoots.
Based on these characteristics, plants can be grouped into four
categories: (i) sensitive plants,
(ii) indicator plants
(iii) excluder plants
(iv) hyperaccumulator plants
Sensitive plants

Sensitive plants tend to take up metals readily but then cannot tolerate the
resulting high metal concentrations in their tissues.
They become poisoned by the metals, their growth is inhibited, and they are
likely to die if grown in even moderately metal-contaminated soils.
With regard to most heavy metals, the majority of plants fall into this category.
Indicator plants
Indicator plants steadily take up the metal in proportion to how
much is available in the soil.
This trait makes them useful as indicators of soil metal
concentrations.
They survive from very low to quite high soil metal
concentrations, but they do not accumulate concentrations of
the metal in their tissues that exceed the concentrations in the
soil.
They manage to tolerate moderately high levels of metal taken
up by sequestering the metal nonsensitive plant parts or by
binding the metals in organic compounds that reduce the
toxicity.
Excluder plants

Excluder plants can tolerate quite high levels of metal contamination, but they
do so by either excluding the metal and avoiding its uptake, or by isolating the
metal in the root and not translocating it to the shoot.
That is, excluder plants may exhibit a high bioconcentration factor in the root
(BCFroot >1), but not in the shoot (BCFshoot = 1).
This behavior may be useful in stabilizing the metal in the soil, but does not
facilitate the removal of the metal altogether.
Hyperaccumulator plant
Hyperaccumulator plants not only tolerate extremely high metal
concentrations in soils, they also efficiently extract the metal
from the soil, translocate the metal to aboveground parts from
their roots, and continue to grow unimpaired with extremely
high metal concentrations in their shoot tissues.
Hundreds of hyperaccumulating plant species from dozens of
plant families have been identified, but the Cruciferae, including
the genera Brassica, Alyssum, and Thlaspi, stand out as
supplying many hyperaccumulators.
As phytoremediation
 The Chinese brake fern Pteris vittata is
a major arsenic hyperaccumulating
plants which can accumulate 23 g kg-1 of
arsenic in its fronds. Similarlarly, other
species Pteris longifolia, Pteris umbrosa
and Pityrogramma calomelanos are also
known to be hyperaccumualtors. In S.C.Santra

presence of available phosphate, the

uptake of As- by the plants appears to
be higher. The root associated VAM
fungi in ferns also helps in
hyperaccumulation of As.
 SOIL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Dr. SOMSUBHRA CHAKRABORTY
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD ENGINEERING
IIT KHARAGPUR

Topic
SOIL SURVEY
Concepts Covered:
 What is soil survey
Objectives of soil survey
Uses of soil survey
The basic steps
The orders of soil survey
Mapping procedure
Practical difficulties
Soil survey

Soil survey is a technique that provides information on the spatial

distribution of soil and their variations.
Soil survey of an area is expected to provide answer to general
questions such as,
i) What types of soils are present and in what proportions?
ii) What is the type at any site of interest?
iii) Where can soil of a particular type or particular range of soil properties be
found?
Objectives of soil survey

The broad general objectives of a soil survey could be grouped as fundamental

and applied:
1. Fundamentally, a soil survey helps in gathering information about the
properties, genesis, classification and nomenclature of soils.
2. The applied aspect in a soil survey includes interpretation of soil data for use
in agriculture, forestry, recreational purposes, urban, industrial and pasture
development, etc.
 Uses of soil survey
They provide information for the development of land use plans for both arable
and non-arable lands and for predicting the long-term effects of a particular
land use on environment.
They help in predicting the adaptability of identified soils to various uses and
also their behavior and productivity under defined sets of management
practices.
Soil resources inventory helps in recognizing the areas having constraints like
salinity, alkalinity, acidity, erosion, waterlogging, flooding, and also in taking
suitable measurements for their management.
Soil information generated through soil surveys is useful for land settlement,
tax appraisal, locating and designing highways, airports and other engineering
structures.
The basic steps in making soil survey
i. Mapping of the soils.
ii. Characterization of the mapping units.
iii. Classification of the mapping units.
iv. Correlation with other soil surveys. Once a team of soil scientists
completes a soil map, the map is reviewed by other soil scientists to
verify that the soil boundaries match those mapped for adjacent areas
and that the characterization and classification of mapping units are
consistent with other soil surveys.
v. Interpretation of soil suitability for various land uses. A report is
written to accompany the soil map in order to describe the suitability
of each mapping unit for various land uses. The interpretive tables in
the report often reflect many person-years of experience and
observation, as well as standard interpretations of measured soil
properties.
vi. Organization of all this soils information to make it available to users in
the form of maps, tabular information, and electronic data files.
Soil survey methodology
Satellite data Ancillary data
(Topomaps, reports, etc)

Visual interpretation

Pre-field physiographic
• Verification of units
physiographic
units Ground truths
• Soil profile collections
studies
Physiographic soil
• Collection of soil
relationships
samples and soil
analysis Finalization of soil maps and
• Soil classification legends

Final soil map

 Base Maps
Cadastral maps: Cadastral maps on the scale of 1:2640 (24”=1
mile) to 1:7920 (8”= 1 mile) in plain areas and 1:1200 (52.8”=
1 mile) in hilly areas are used for detailed mapping. Cadastral
maps show field boundaries and field or revenue survey
number; however, they lack topographical details (contours,
elevations, etc.).
Topographical maps: Topographical maps are published on
the scale of 1:25000, 1:50000 and 1:250000). These are used
as base maps for various of soil surveys in India.
Topographical maps show physical features and contain
topographical details also in the form of contours and
elevations above the mean sea level for survey of India
benchmarks.
 Base Maps
Aerial photographs: The aerial photographs ranging in
scale from 1:8000 to 1:60000 are used in different types
of soil surveys. Successive photographs contain 50-65%
overlap which is essential for stereoscopic viewing and
an analysis of stereo pairs.
Remote sensing
Orders of soil survey
Mapping units

Soil map units are designed to efficiently deliver soil

information to meet user needs for management and
land use decisions. Map units can appear as
individual areas (i.e., polygons), points, or lines on a
map. A map unit is a collection of areas defined and
named the same in terms of their soil components. Scielo.br

Each map unit differs in some respect from all others

in a survey area and is uniquely identified on a soil
map.
Mapping units
Soil Phase: Although technically not included as a class in Soil
Taxonomy, a phase is a subdivision based on some important
deviation that influences the use of the soil, such as surface
texture, degree of erosion, slope, stoniness, or soluble salt
content. Thus, a Cecil sandy loam, 3–5% slope, and a Hagerstown
silt loam, stony phase, are examples of phases of soil series.
Consociations: The smallest practical mapping unit for most
detailed soil surveys is an area that contains primarily one soil
component. Furthermore, that component is comprised mainly of
only one phase of the named soil series. For example, a mapping
unit may be labeled as the consociation “Saybrook silt loam, 2–5%
slopes, moderately eroded.”
 Mapping units
Soil Complexes: Sometimes contrasting soils occur
adjacent to each other in a pattern so intricate that the
delineation of each kind of soil on a soil map becomes
difficult, if not impossible. In such cases, a soil complex is
indicated on a soil map, and an explanation of the soils
present in the complex is contained in the soil survey report.
Soil Associations and Broader Classes: Relatively
large-scale soil maps (e.g., third order) may display only soil
associations—general groupings of soils that typically occur
together in a landscape and could be mapped separately at
a larger scale. Mapping units in fourth and fifth order
surveys with scales smaller than 1:1,000,000 usually can
show only broad classes of soils such as the dominant soil
orders, suborder, and great groups present in delineated
areas.
 Mapping units
Undifferentiated Groups: These units consist of soils that are
not consistently found together, but are grouped and mapped
together because their suitabilities and management are very
similar for common land uses.
Early soil surveys

1922 Reconnaissance soil survey in Texas; USDA-NRCS.

 Soil survey and mapping procedure
1. Preliminary reconnaissance of the area to investigate the
major soils and their pattern of occurrence.
2. Procurement of required base maps: aerial photographs,
satellite imagery, topographical and other maps.
3. Preparation of the mapping legend based on the preliminary
field studies.
4. Stereographic study of aerial photographs and interpretation
of satellite imagery or digital for the identification and
delineation of land forms (hills, valleys, terraces, flood plains,
coastal plains and sand dunes) and their sub-divisions based
on the differences in tone, relief and vegetation.
Soil survey and mapping procedure

5. The soil are examined at some standard interval along the traverse to
locate important differences in the soil properties.
6. Plotting of soil boundaries
7. Classification of soils and naming of map units based on the
morphological, physical and chemical properties of the soil forming
the map unit.
8. Preparation of the final legend and finalization of the soil map.
Examination and description of the soil
profile
Each horizon is described for the following characteristics:
1. Horizon symbol
2. Depth of each horizon/layer (cm)
3. Soil color under wet, moist and dry conditions.
4. Mottling: soil indicative of periodic Fe reduction and reoxidation
5. Soil texture
6. Soil structure
7. Soil consistence under dry, moist and wet conditions
8. Cutans (ped coating), pressure faces and slickensides
9. Nodules/concretions and cementation
10. Contents of carbonates, and soluble salts.
Examination and description of the soil
profile
11. Roots
12. Nature of the boundary with the horizon below
13. pH
14. Hard pans
15. Pores
16. Artefacts Soil Science Society of America

17. Features of biological origin

 Practical difficulties in soil survey
1. The distribution of the different soils may be so complex in a field or
may occupy so small areas that their delineation on a map, at any
practical scale, becomes difficult.
2. It is difficult to follow the geographic boundaries of the soils because of
the vegetative cover and their hidden nature.
3. Soil survey and mapping are expensive and many developing nations
may not afford them unless they serve the practical needs.
4. The inaccessibility of certain areas because of the transportation
problems may restricts the number of the sampling point.
 SOIL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Dr. SOMSUBHRA CHAKRABORTY
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD ENGINEERING
IIT KHARAGPUR

Topic
REMOTE SENSING IN SOIL SURVEY
Concepts Covered:

What is remote sensing?

 SCORPAN model

Remote sensing of soil forming factors

Remote sensing
Remote sensing is a method for getting information about of different objects on the
planet, without any physical contacts with it.

Image Source: cimss.ssec.wisc.edu

Satellite pictures
Satellite imagery consists of
photographs collected by
satellites.

Image Source: www.loneotaku.net

Remote sensing: advantages
• Provides a view for
the large region
• Offers Geo-referenced
information and
digital information
• Most of the remote
sensors operate in
every season, every
day, every time and
even in real tough Landsat/Ikonos/Quickbard/Aster
weather
Remote sensing in soil survey

Remote sensing can be used as a tool to gain additional information for soil
survey
Viewing the remotely sensed image in various spectral bands helps in
distinguishing unique features
The SCORPAN factors are used as a means of differentiation
Conceptual model of soil formation

1. Jenny (1941)
• S=f (P,Cl,O,R,T)
• DEM= These terrain attributes quantify the relief factor in Jenny’s Model
• Some of the most commonly used are:
• Slope;
• Altitude Above Channel Network;
• Valley Bottom Flatness;
• Topographic Wetness Index (TWI).
2. SCORPAN (McBratney, 2003)
SCORPAN
SCORPAN
Remote sensing

Sentera
Organisms: plants
Plant leaves contain chlorophyll which
absorb visible radiation (0.4-0.7 microns)
especially red
They reflect in near infrared radiation
(0.7-1.1 nm)
Hence, a lushy vegetation can be
differentiated from dead/senescent
vegetation by observing the NIR peaks
 NDVI
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) is
used to find the relative abundance of vegetation
NDVI = (NIR-R)/(NIR+R) and ranges from -1
to 1
NIR = near infrared band and R= red band
of LANDSAT respectively
Green vegetation reflects NIR and absorbs
R
Higher the NDVI, higher the vegetation
density and vice versa
NDVI in grey scale
An NDVI map is shown in grey scale
Black – no vegetation eg. River, highway
White – high vegetation intensity eg. thick grass
adjacent to river
Intermediate grey scales – lighter the color, more the
vegetation density
Parent material

Soils are made up of wide

variety of parent materials
Hence, the minerals
present in them vary in
their spectral responses
This is particularly evident
in shortwave infrared
region (1.1 – 3 microns)
Soil
Soils can be identified using physical, chemical and biological properties
Each chemical has a typical spectral response which is used
eg. Gypsum has a diagnostic spectral response in SWIR

s
Relief: DEM
Digital model or 3D representation of a
terrain's surface

Legend
padillcr_mm
Value
High : 267

0 0.5 1 2 3 4
Kilometers Low : 146
Relief
Relief helps in generation of ancillary data
Eg. Slope, altitude, curvature, wetness index etc
elevation slope

Blue – low elevation

White – high elevation

Blue – level
White – extremely steep
Reference:
 Remote sensing for soil survey applications, Janis
Boettinger