The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII. Part B7. Beijing 2008 
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Similar to the SSA interpolation maps, every depth was 
processed to yield a 3D map for other soil properties. The 
overall information was used to provide a new view to 
describe the soils within the area in question. As 
demonstrated previously, an extra layer can be obtained 
from the POS activity by adding the GPS measurements to 
the kriging interpolation to generate DTM information. 
Including the topography information along with a 
quantitative description of the soil surface (using the IS 
technology) as well as the soil profile (using the POS 
approach) may be further used to classify the soil pedons to 
an agreed-upon soil order. This stage will enable the 
projection of all digital information on a classic soil map 
that will consist of the hierarchy of soil orders. This stage, 
however, requires more study and all layers will need to be 
programmed to match the USD A (or similar) definition 
system of the soil orders. This activity requires digitizing 
the USD A user guide manual in such a way that the 
spectral-spatial layers (IS, POS, and GPS based) will be 
able to be defined by the proper (and accurate) pedogentic 
root tree approach. Although this stage still lies ahead, the 
present approach suggests that we are very close to 
achieving that end. In other words, a first step toward 
fully automating the soil mapping mission has been 
completed. Utilizing the optical method is very simple and 
does not require professional soil surveying skills. Since it is 
a purely technical, scientifically oriented method, it can be 
used to collect many samples quickly and use by other 
applications such as precision farming and environmental 
watching. 
Surface Specific Area - Depth View 
Figure 4: A cube (layer stack) description of the SSA property 
throughout the soil areas studied 
3. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
Combining optically based sensors that operate from both air 
and ground domains can provide important information about 
the soil entity. The new POS approach enables the soil profile to 
be conveniently evaluated for a soil mapping mission. Instead of 
opening trenches, which involves subjectively describing the 
profile in the field and sending soil samples to the laboratory, 
the POS approach with NIRS analysis enables in situ soil profile 
recognition rapidly and effectively. The POS results provide 
new insight into the soil properties on a spatial basis and may be 
used in the future to automatically define the soil pedon in the 
field. Further study is thus required to correlate the spectral data 
information to the exact soil classification system that is 
commonly used. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
This work was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government 
of Israel, Soil Division grant 1/95-1/97. 
RERENENCES 
Banin, A., and A. Amiel. 1970. A correlation study of the 
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Ben-Dor, E, D. Heller and A. Chudnovsky, A novel method of 
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Soc. Am. J. in press 
Ben-Dor, E., and A. Banin. 1995. Near infrared analysis as a rapid 
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USDA. 1999. Soil Taxonomy, Agriculture Handbook no. 436, 
United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources 
Conservation Service. Washington. D.C.