IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i5p1034-d1142997.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Independent Validation of SoilGrids Accuracy for Soil Texture Components in Croatia

Author

Listed:
  • Dorijan Radočaj

    (Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia)

  • Mladen Jurišić

    (Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia)

  • Irena Rapčan

    (Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia)

  • Fran Domazetović

    (Department of Geography, University of Zadar, Trg kneza Višeslava 9, 23000 Zadar, Croatia)

  • Rina Milošević

    (Department of Geography, University of Zadar, Trg kneza Višeslava 9, 23000 Zadar, Croatia)

  • Ivan Plaščak

    (Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000 Osijek, Croatia)

Abstract

While SoilGrids is an important source of soil property data for a wide range of environmental studies worldwide, there is currently an extreme lack of studies evaluating its accuracy against independent ground truth soil sampling data. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive insight into the accuracy of SoilGrids layers for three physical soil properties representing soil texture components (clay, silt, and sand soil contents) using ground truth data in the heterogeneous landscape of Croatia. These ground truth data consisted of 686 soil samples collected within the national project at a 0–30 cm soil depth, representing the most recent official national data available. The main specificity of this study was that SoilGrids was created based on zero soil samples in the study area, according to the ISRIC WoSIS Soil Profile Database, which is very sparse for the wider surroundings of the study area. The accuracy assessment metrics indicated an overall low accuracy of the SoilGrids data compared with the ground truth data in Croatia, with the average coefficient of determination (R 2 ) ranging from 0.039 for silt and sand to 0.267 for clay, while the normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE) ranged from 0.362 to 2.553. Despite the great value of SoilGrids in a vast range of environmental studies, this study proved that the accuracy of its products is highly dependent on the presence of ground truth data in the study area.

Suggested Citation

  • Dorijan Radočaj & Mladen Jurišić & Irena Rapčan & Fran Domazetović & Rina Milošević & Ivan Plaščak, 2023. "An Independent Validation of SoilGrids Accuracy for Soil Texture Components in Croatia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:5:p:1034-:d:1142997
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/5/1034/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/5/1034/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li Lu & Sheng Li & Rong Wu & Deyou Shen, 2022. "Study on the Scale Effect of Spatial Variation in Soil Salinity Based on Geostatistics: A Case Study of Yingdaya River Irrigation Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Vasu, Duraisamy & Srivastava, Rajeev & Patil, Nitin G. & Tiwary, Pramod & Chandran, Padikkal & Kumar Singh, Surendra, 2018. "A comparative assessment of land suitability evaluation methods for agricultural land use planning at village level," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 146-163.
    3. Sebastiano Trevisani & Igor Bogunovic, 2022. "Diachronic Mapping of Soil Organic Matter in Eastern Croatia Croplands," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Nouri, Milad & Homaee, Mehdi & Bannayan, Mohammad & Hoogenboom, Gerrit, 2016. "Towards modeling soil texture-specific sensitivity of wheat yield and water balance to climatic changes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 248-263.
    5. Eranga M. Wimalasiri & Ebrahim Jahanshiri & Tengku Adhwa Syaherah Tengku Mohd Suhairi & Hasika Udayangani & Ranjith B. Mapa & Asha S. Karunaratne & Lal P. Vidhanarachchi & Sayed N. Azam-Ali, 2020. "Basic Soil Data Requirements for Process-Based Crop Models as a Basis for Crop Diversification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    6. Leonidas Liakos & Panos Panagos, 2022. "Challenges in the Geo-Processing of Big Soil Spatial Data," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-24, December.
    7. Hualin Xie & Yingqian Huang & Qianru Chen & Yanwei Zhang & Qing Wu, 2019. "Prospects for Agricultural Sustainable Intensification: A Review of Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-27, October.
    8. Dorijan Radočaj & Mladen Jurišić & Oleg Antonić & Ante Šiljeg & Neven Cukrov & Irena Rapčan & Ivan Plaščak & Mateo Gašparović, 2022. "A Multiscale Cost–Benefit Analysis of Digital Soil Mapping Methods for Sustainable Land Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pietro De Marinis & Paolo Stefano Ferrario & Guido Sali & Giulio Senes, 2022. "The Rapid and Participatory Assessment of Land Suitability in Development Cooperation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Danilo Đokić & Bojan Matkovski & Marija Jeremić & Ivan Đurić, 2022. "Land Productivity and Agri-Environmental Indicators: A Case Study of Western Balkans," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Milad Nouri & Mehdi Homaee & Mohammad Bannayan, 2017. "Quantitative Trend, Sensitivity and Contribution Analyses of Reference Evapotranspiration in some Arid Environments under Climate Change," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(7), pages 2207-2224, May.
    4. Rodica Chetroiu & Ana Elena Cișmileanu & Elena Cofas & Ionut Laurentiu Petre & Steliana Rodino & Vili Dragomir & Ancuța Marin & Petruța Antoneta Turek-Rahoveanu, 2022. "Assessment of the Relations for Determining the Profitability of Dairy Farms, A Premise of Their Economic Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Lu Cai & Chaoqing Chai & Bangbang Zhang & Feng Yang & Wei Wang & Chengdong Zhang, 2022. "The Theoretical Approach and Practice of Farmland Rights System Reform from Decentralization to Centralization Promoting Agricultural Modernization: Evidence from Yuyang District in Shaanxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Lijing Tang & Yuanyuan Yang & Dongyan Wang & Qing Wei, 2022. "Optimizing County-Level Land-Use Structure Method: Case Study of W County, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-26, April.
    7. Timuçin Everest & Hakan Koparan & Ali Sungur & Hasan Özcan, 2022. "An important tool against combat climate change: Land suitability assessment for canola (a case study: Çanakkale, NW Turkey)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 13137-13172, November.
    8. Siva K. Balasundram & Redmond R. Shamshiri & Shankarappa Sridhara & Nastaran Rizan, 2023. "The Role of Digital Agriculture in Mitigating Climate Change and Ensuring Food Security: An Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-23, March.
    9. Jalali, Vahidreza & Asadi Kapourchal, Safoora & Homaee, Mehdi, 2017. "Evaluating performance of macroscopic water uptake models at productive growth stages of durum wheat under saline conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 180(PA), pages 13-21.
    10. Stavros Kalogiannidis & Christina-Ioanna Papadopoulou & Efstratios Loizou & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis, 2023. "Risk, Vulnerability, and Resilience in Agriculture and Their Impact on Sustainable Rural Economy Development: A Case Study of Greece," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, June.
    11. Đokić, Danilo & Matkovski, Bojan & Jeremić, Marija & Đurić, Ivan, 2022. "Land productivity and agri-environmental indicators: A case study of Western Balkans," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(12), pages 1-13.
    12. Ge Song & Hongmei Zhang, 2021. "Cultivated Land Use Layout Adjustment Based on Crop Planting Suitability: A Case Study of Typical Counties in Northeast China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Xiaobo Liu & Yukuan Wang & Ming Li, 2021. "How to Identify Future Priority Areas for Urban Development: An Approach of Urban Construction Land Suitability in Ecological Sensitive Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-21, April.
    14. Qianru Chen, 2022. "Analyzing Farmers’ Cultivated-Land-Abandonment Behavior: Integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior and a Structural Equation Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, October.
    15. Tiangui Lv & Li Wang & Hualin Xie & Xinmin Zhang & Yanwei Zhang, 2021. "Exploring the Global Research Trends of Land Use Planning Based on a Bibliometric Analysis: Current Status and Future Prospects," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    16. Rahimi-Moghaddam, Sajjad & Eyni-Nargeseh, Hamed & Ahmadi, Seyed Ahmad Kalantar & Azizi, Khosro, 2021. "Towards withholding irrigation regimes and drought-resistant genotypes as strategies to increase canola production in drought-prone environments: A modeling approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    17. Harrison W. Smith & Amanda J. Ashworth & Phillip R. Owens, 2022. "GIS-Based Evaluation of Soil Suitability for Optimized Production on U.S. Tribal Lands," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-10, August.
    18. Kibrom A. Abay & Lina Abdelfattah & Hoda El‐Enbaby & Mai Mahmoud & Clemens Breisinger, 2022. "Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(5), pages 792-810, September.
    19. Yongzhong Tan & Hang Chen & Kuan Lian & Zhenning Yu, 2020. "Comprehensive Evaluation of Cultivated Land Quality at County Scale: A Case Study of Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-15, February.
    20. Meng Wang & Qingchen Xu & Zemeng Fan & Xiaofang Sun, 2021. "The Imprint of Built-Up Land Expansion on Cropland Distribution and Productivity in Shandong Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:5:p:1034-:d:1142997. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.