Is it possible to map subsurface soil attributes by satellite spectral transfer models

It is impossible to make pedological maps without understanding subsurface attributes. Several strategies can be used for soil mapping, from a tacit knowledge to mathematical modeling. However, there are still gaps in knowledge regarding how to optimize subsurface mapping. This work aimed to quantify subsurface soil attributes using satellite spectral reflectance and geographically weighted regression (GWR) techniques. The study was carried out in São Paulo, Brazil, in an area spanning 47,882 ha. Multitemporal satellite images (Landsat-5) were initially processed in order to retrieve spectral reflectance from the bare soil surface. Based on a toposequence method, 328 points were then distributed across the area (at depths between 0 and 20 cm and 80 and 100 cm) and analyzed for their soil chemical and physical attributes (including the reflectance spectra (400 to 2500 nm)) in the laboratory. We achieved 67.72% of bare soil for the whole study area, with the remaining 32.28% of the unmapped surface being filled by kriging interpolation. All 328 samples were modeled using surface (Landsat-5 TM spectral reflectance) and subsurface (acquired in the laboratory) data, reaching up to 0.72 R2adj. The correlation between the spectra of both depths was significant and the soil attributes prediction reached an R2adj of validation above 0.6 for clay, hue, value, and chroma at 0–20 and 80–100 cm depths. The satellite soil surface reflectance allowed the estimation of soil subsurface attributes. These results demonstrate that diagnostic soil attributes can be quantified based on spectral pedotransfer (SPEDO) functions to assist digital soil mapping and soil monitoring. Despite our efforts to determine soil subsurface properties using digital soil mapping approach, this task still need considerable refinement. Thus, research must continue to aggregate outcomes from other techniques.