Use of Mid-infrared Spectroscopy and Development of a SHINY-app for Predicting Dynamic Soil Properties in Kentucky

Title: “Use of mid-infrared spectroscopy and development of a SHINY-app for predicting dynamic soil properties in Kentucky” In the 21st century, soil health has become the primary focus of soil fertility management. Several properties, such as soil carbon, nitrogen, and bulk density are dynamic on the scale of a human-lifetime (dynamic soil property, DSP), and can be managed for sustained changes on the order of decades. However, assessments of these properties can be time consuming, costly, and inaccessible for most land managers and farmers. The availability of relatively quick and inexpensive techniques, such as mid- infrared spectroscopy (MIR) offers an opportunity to provide greater accessibility to estimates of DSPs. A key limitation is the lack of a delivery mechanism for providing the needed statistical models and resources to enable the use of MIR for the broader public audience. The purpose of this agreement is to enable the NRCS and the University of Kentucky (UK) to work cooperatively to develop a set of models to predict DSPs based on MIR spectra in Kentucky and develop a web-based platform to offer greater accessibility to these models. These models and tools will improve the use of MIR spectra in soil survey and will further strengthen the NRCS’s ability to predicte important soil health metrics. Involvement of the NRCS is needed to ensure that the platform is useful and applicability for the land managers and soil survey scientists. The NRCS will provide guidance on: site selection and study design, model development, and testing of the web-based platform.