Zhengwei Liang

The spectral features of soils are a comprehensive representation of their physicochemical parameters, surface states, and internal structures. To date, spectral measurements have been mostly performed for powdered soils and smooth aggregate soils, but rarely for cracked soils; a common state of soda-saline soils. In this study, we measured the spectral features of 57 saline soil samples in powdered, aggregate, and cracked states for comparison. We then explored in depth the factors governing soil spectral features to build up simple and multiple linear regression models between the spectral features and physicochemical parameters (salt content, Na⁺, pH, and electronic conductivity (EC)) of saline soils in different states. We randomly selected 40 samples to construct the models, and used the remaining 17 samples for validation. Our results indicated that the regression models worked more effectively in predicting physicochemical parameters for cracked soils than for other soils. Subsequently, the crack ratio (CR) was introduced into the regression models to modify the spectra of soils in powdered and aggregate states. The accuracy of prediction was improved, evidenced by a 2–11% decrease in the parameters mean absolute error (MAE).