Development of a digital data base for reflectance-related soil information

A digital soils data base established for inclusion of soil reflectance data, physical, chemical, and engineering measurements, and site information is discussed. Initial data are taken from 500 soil samples covering the spectral range of 0.5 to 2.3 microns. Information obtained from each observation includes spectral data, and identification records with the soil and spectral observation parameters. The LARSPEC software system is available to retrieve and manipulate information, and scattergrams of identification and spectral data allow the initiation of statistical analyses of soil data. In addition, soil characteristics, graphical displays of reflectance spectra, and identification information examples are given.