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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Applicability to Mapping Soil Properties Under Homogeneous Steppe Vegetation

Author

Listed:
  • Azamat Suleymanov

    (Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence in Environmental Research, Decarbonisation Technologies Center, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia
    Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia)

  • Mikhail Komissarov

    (Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia)

  • Mikhail Aivazyan

    (Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia)

  • Ruslan Suleymanov

    (Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia
    Decarbonisation Technologies Center, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia
    Department of Geodesy, Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, Ufa University of Science and Technology, 450076 Ufa, Russia)

  • Ilnur Bikbaev

    (Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia
    Decarbonisation Technologies Center, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia)

  • Arseniy Garipov

    (Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence in Environmental Research, Decarbonisation Technologies Center, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia
    Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia)

  • Raphak Giniyatullin

    (Ufa Institute of Biology, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 450054 Ufa, Russia)

  • Olesia Ishkinina

    (Department of Environmental Protection and Prudent Exploitation of Natural Resources, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia)

  • Iren Tuktarova

    (Department of Environmental Protection and Prudent Exploitation of Natural Resources, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia)

  • Larisa Belan

    (Department of Environmental Protection and Prudent Exploitation of Natural Resources, Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, 450064 Ufa, Russia
    Department of Geology, Hydrometeorology and Geoecology, Ufa University of Science and Technology, 450076 Ufa, Russia)

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly becoming a popular tool for digital soil mapping at a large-scale. However, their applicability in areas with homogeneous vegetation (i.e., not bare soil) has not been fully investigated. In this study, we aimed to predict soil organic carbon, soil texture at several depths, as well as the thickness of the AB soil horizon and penetration resistance using a machine learning algorithm in combination with UAV images. We used an area in the Eurasian steppe zone (Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia) covered with the Stipa vegetation type as a test plot, and collected 192 soil samples from it. We estimated the models using a cross-validation approach and spatial prediction uncertainties. To improve the prediction performance, we also tested the inclusion of oblique geographic coordinates (OGCs) as covariates that reflect spatial position. The following results were achieved: (i) the predictive models demonstrated poor performance using only UAV images as predictors; (ii) the incorporation of OGCs slightly improved the predictions, whereas their uncertainties remained high. We conclude that the inability to accurately predict soil properties using these predictor variables (UAV and OGC) is likely due to the limited access to soil spectral signatures and the high variability of soil properties within what appears to be a homogeneous site, particularly in relation to soil-forming factors. Our results demonstrated the limitations of UAVs’ application for modeling soil properties on a site with homogeneous vegetation, whereas including spatial autocorrelation information can benefit and should be not ignored in further studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Azamat Suleymanov & Mikhail Komissarov & Mikhail Aivazyan & Ruslan Suleymanov & Ilnur Bikbaev & Arseniy Garipov & Raphak Giniyatullin & Olesia Ishkinina & Iren Tuktarova & Larisa Belan, 2025. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Applicability to Mapping Soil Properties Under Homogeneous Steppe Vegetation," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:931-:d:1642156
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kuhn, Max, 2008. "Building Predictive Models in R Using the caret Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 28(i05).
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