Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya

Four proximal soil sensors were tested at four smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya: a portable X-ray fluorescence sensor (PXRF), a mobile phone application for soil color determination by photography, a dual-depth electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor, and a LED-based soil optical reflectance s...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Piikki, Kristin, Söderström, Mats, Eriksson, Jan, Muturi, John Jamleck, Muthee, Patrick Ireri, Wetterlind, Johanna, Lund, Eric
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78258
_version_ 1855527291900133376
author Piikki, Kristin
Söderström, Mats
Eriksson, Jan
Muturi, John Jamleck
Muthee, Patrick Ireri
Wetterlind, Johanna
Lund, Eric
author_browse Eriksson, Jan
Lund, Eric
Muthee, Patrick Ireri
Muturi, John Jamleck
Piikki, Kristin
Söderström, Mats
Wetterlind, Johanna
author_facet Piikki, Kristin
Söderström, Mats
Eriksson, Jan
Muturi, John Jamleck
Muthee, Patrick Ireri
Wetterlind, Johanna
Lund, Eric
author_sort Piikki, Kristin
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Four proximal soil sensors were tested at four smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya: a portable X-ray fluorescence sensor (PXRF), a mobile phone application for soil color determination by photography, a dual-depth electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor, and a LED-based soil optical reflectance sensor. Measurements were made at 32–43 locations at each site. Topsoil samples were analyzed for plant-available nutrients (N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S, B, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe), pH, total nitrogen (TN) and total carbon (TC), soil texture, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable aluminum (Al). Multivariate prediction models of each of the lab-analyzed soil properties were parameterized for 576 sensor-variable combinations. Prediction models for K, N, Ca and S, B, Zn, Mn, Fe, TC, Al, and CEC met the setup criteria for functional, robust, and accurate models. The PXRF sensor was the sensor most often included in successful models. We concluded that the combination of a PXRF and a portable soil reflectance sensor is a promising combination of handheld soil sensors for the development of in situ soil assessments as a field-based alternative or complement to laboratory measurements.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace78258
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher MDPI
publisherStr MDPI
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace782582025-03-13T09:44:22Z Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya Piikki, Kristin Söderström, Mats Eriksson, Jan Muturi, John Jamleck Muthee, Patrick Ireri Wetterlind, Johanna Lund, Eric soil smallholders subsistence farming sensors sampling soils properties suelo agricultura de subsistencia sensores muestreo Four proximal soil sensors were tested at four smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya: a portable X-ray fluorescence sensor (PXRF), a mobile phone application for soil color determination by photography, a dual-depth electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor, and a LED-based soil optical reflectance sensor. Measurements were made at 32–43 locations at each site. Topsoil samples were analyzed for plant-available nutrients (N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S, B, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe), pH, total nitrogen (TN) and total carbon (TC), soil texture, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable aluminum (Al). Multivariate prediction models of each of the lab-analyzed soil properties were parameterized for 576 sensor-variable combinations. Prediction models for K, N, Ca and S, B, Zn, Mn, Fe, TC, Al, and CEC met the setup criteria for functional, robust, and accurate models. The PXRF sensor was the sensor most often included in successful models. We concluded that the combination of a PXRF and a portable soil reflectance sensor is a promising combination of handheld soil sensors for the development of in situ soil assessments as a field-based alternative or complement to laboratory measurements. 2016 2016-12-09T20:19:12Z 2016-12-09T20:19:12Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78258 en Open Access MDPI Piikki, Kristin; Söderström, Mats; Eriksson, Jan; Muturi, John Jamleck; Muthee, Patrick Ireri; Wetterlind, Johanna; Lund, Eric. 2016. Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya . Sensor. 16 (11): 1950.
spellingShingle soil
smallholders
subsistence farming
sensors
sampling
soils properties
suelo
agricultura de subsistencia
sensores
muestreo
Piikki, Kristin
Söderström, Mats
Eriksson, Jan
Muturi, John Jamleck
Muthee, Patrick Ireri
Wetterlind, Johanna
Lund, Eric
Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya
title Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya
title_full Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya
title_fullStr Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya
title_short Performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in Embu County, Kenya
title_sort performance evaluation of proximal sensors for soil assessment in smallholder farms in embu county kenya
topic soil
smallholders
subsistence farming
sensors
sampling
soils properties
suelo
agricultura de subsistencia
sensores
muestreo
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78258
work_keys_str_mv AT piikkikristin performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya
AT soderstrommats performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya
AT erikssonjan performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya
AT muturijohnjamleck performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya
AT mutheepatrickireri performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya
AT wetterlindjohanna performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya
AT lunderic performanceevaluationofproximalsensorsforsoilassessmentinsmallholderfarmsinembucountykenya