Sensing landscape level change in soil fertility following deforestation and conversion in the highlands of Madagascar using Vis-NIR spectroscopy

• Published in: Geoderma Vol. 133; no. 3; pp. 281 - 294
• Main Authors: Vågen, Tor-G., Shepherd, Keith D., Walsh, Markus G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.08.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Deforestation; Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Madagascar; Oxisols; Remote sensing; Soil fertility; Soil quality; Soils; Surficial geology; Indian Ocean Islands; Madagascar; ISW, Indian Ocean, Madagascar; Deforestation; Soil fertility; Soil quality; Madagascar; Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; Oxisols; Remote sensing; Upland area; data; Soil deterioration; Tropical soil; Reflection spectrometry; Ecological damage; Near infrared spectrometry; Cost efficiency analysis; conversion; landscapes; Status; stress; processes; cost; Indian Ocean; Trend; Visible spectrometry; Previous study; Near infrared radiation; islands; Analytical method; Problem

Research data on soil quality are scarce in Madagascar, despite the island's widely recognized problems of soil and environmental degradation. One of the major constraints to properly assessing current status, trends and processes of soil degradation is the high level of costs involved when usi...