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REVIEW article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Informatics and Remote Sensing
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1430818

Vegetation Spectra as an Integrated Measure to Explain Underlying Soil Characteristics: A Review of Recent Advances

Provisionally accepted
Willibroad Buma Willibroad Buma *Andrei Abelev Andrei Abelev Trina Merrick Trina Merrick
  • Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Grassland ecosystems play a critical role in global carbon cycling and environmental health. Understanding the intricate link between grassland vegetation traits and underlying soil properties is crucial for effective ecosystem monitoring and management. This review paper examines advancements in utilizing Radiative Transfer Models (RTMs) and hyperspectral remote sensing to bridge this knowledge gap. We explore the potential of vegetation spectra as an integrated measure of soil characteristics, acknowledging the value of other remote sensing sources. Our focus is on studies leveraging hyperspectral data from proximal and airborne sensors, while discussing the impact of spatial scale on trait retrieval accuracy. Finally, we explore how advancements in global satellite remote sensing contribute to vegetation trait detection. This review concludes by identifying current challenges, outlining future research directions, and highlighting opportunities for improved understanding of the vegetation-soil property interaction.

    Keywords: soil properties, Grassland Traits, Radiative transfer models (RTMs), Vegetation-soil interactions, Remote sensing spectroscopy, satellite remote sensing

    Received: 13 May 2024; Accepted: 28 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Buma, Abelev and Merrick. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Willibroad Buma, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.