COMPUTER-AIDED SOIL EVALUATION METHODS ON LANDSAT IMAGES IN CULTURED LANDSCAPES 
by 
J. JAKOB', J. LAMP', M. LEHNER . 
Institut für Pflanzenernáhrung und Bodenkunde, Universitát, Olshausenstr.l0-60 
a D 2300 Kiel 1 
+ : ; 
DFVLR Oberpfaffenhofen, 8031 WeBling, Obb., West Germany 
ABSTRACT 
For intensively cultivated North-German landscapes, LANDSAT-imagery can make 
an important contribution for general soil survey. Computer aided methods that 
improve the visibility not only of spectral, but of spatial patterns stand in 
the foreground. A bitemporal approach serves to narrow down spectral classes. 
Interpretation is done visually by analogy, using known relations between soils, 
parent material, physiography, landuse, crops and parcelling pattern. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
  
Small-scale physiographic interpretation of German landscapes for soil survey 
is possible by LANDSAT imagery. Visual interpretation on false color compo- 
sites has already brought positive results with the aim of improving existing 
general soil maps (JAKOB, 1980). There it became clear, that for European 
) cultured landscapes, with their intricate and physiographically significant land- 
use and parcelling patterns, one cannot solely rely on automatic analysis of 
spectral patterns, but must also take the spatial pattern into account, which 
today and the near future will hardly lend itself to automatic computer-evalu- 
ation. 
  
Since in LANDSAT false color composites (FCC) only & fraction of the originally 
tape-stored data appears, computer aided image-improvement and data-reduction 
inge methods are advisable before and during visual interpretation. By interactive 
computer work to emphasize spatial pattern and spectral signature of object 
classes under multitemporal aspect, one arrives at greatly improved possibilities 
of visual interpretation. In the following, this kind of work was performed at 
; the DFVLR Oberpfaffenhofen. 
  
2. LOCALITY 
The investigated area, in the North-German country of Schleswig-Holstein, was 
chosen in the size of a processable frame of 512 x 512 pixels (28,6 x 40,5 km), 
so that several types of landscapes could be analysed. It is situated in the 
vicinity of Neumünster (map 1) and encompasses young Pleistocene (Weichselian) 
morainic material in the north, which is traversed by glacial drainage courses. 
In the south, young Pleistocene (Weichselian) outwash is found, which partly 
le covers old Pleistocene moraines (Warthian stadium of Saalian glaciation). 
ur Throughout the investigation area, low fen and raised bogs are found, mostly 
used as grassland. 
)2 The scenes used for this work were from the 9. 10. T2 and from the 28. 8. T5. 
)2 | 
3. SOIL SURVEY AND REMOTE SENSING 
‘Since in temperate climates, it is virtually impossible to distinguish different 
+ soil spectral signatures of continous areas due to vegetation and land use (du- 
nts in 
  
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