The contribution of the European Project Probefield to in-field use of proximal soil sensors

Proximal and remote sensing methods are currently investigated in order to meet the growing demand for fast and cheap analysis of soils. For this reason, also at European level, several funds are employed in order to optimize the procedure for obtaining the best results. In this context, in the framework of the European Joint Programme EJP SOIL, the project ProbeField (https://ejpsoil.eu/soil-research/probefield) is funded to develop quick and simple methods to analyse soil properties directly in the field, namely, without the need to bring soil to the laboratory, overcoming the obstacles of the data acquisition at field condition. Among the available proximal sensors, visible and near infrared spectroscopy has the greatest potential, especially for soil organic carbon and clay minerals that have specific spectral signatures in the visible and near infrared spectral region. ProbeField’s ultimate goal is developing a protocol for the best practices for soil mapping directly in the field based on proximal sensors.