Spectroscopic solutions for generating new global soil information
Yi Peng, Eyal Ben Dor, Asim Biswas, Sabine Chabrillat, José Alexandre Melo Demattê, Yufeng Ge, Asa Gholizadeh, Cécile Gomez, C. Guerrero, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jonathan J. Maynard, Abdul Mounem Mouazen, Yuxin Ma, Alex B. McBratney, Budiman Minasny, Leonardo Ramírez-López, Alasdair M. Robertson, Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel, Zhou Shi, Bo Stenberg, Alexandre M.J.‐C. Wadoux, Leigh Winowiecki, Gan‐Lin Zhang
Abstract
While global efforts to operationalize soil spectroscopy are progressing, cooperation is needed to fully leverage its potential for generating digital soil information to support sustainable soil management worldwide. The Global Soil Laboratory Network's soil spectroscopy initiative (GLOSOLAN-Spec), led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through its Global Soil Partnership (GSP), is dedicated to the further development and adoption of soil spectroscopy by fostering international collaboration via a scientific community of practice to produce accurate and reliable soil information for sustainable soil management and decision-making. To support this effort, we, a global consortium of soil scientists under the auspices of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) and GLOSOLAN-Spec, aim to address seven key challenges hindering the adoption of soil spectroscopy worldwide. Here, we offer perspectives on what is needed to advance soil spectroscopy as a routine soil analysis method, emphasizing its potential to generate new and reliable spatial and temporal soil data.