New soil index development and integration with econometric theory

Soil scientists have worked on the conceptualization and contextualization of soil-related notions, such as soil quality, soil health, and soil security, over the past few decades. We reviewed the massive amount of literature regarding those major concepts, and summarized definitions, visions, and constraints. Indicators (In) and indices (Ix) are well suited to aggregate soil and environmental data to assess soil quality, health, and security quantitatively. Our literature review showed that (i) more sophisticated quantification methods are necessary; (ii) often only a single soil property and/or class is modeled rather than more complex soil functions, risks, or services; (iii) there is a lack of harmonization, standardization, and reference frameworks that allow soil comparisons across regions and time; and (iv) methods frequently used to calculate soil In/Ix, such as ordination and factor analysis, do not consider rigorous axiomatic criteria of scientific sound indication systems. In summary, the complex soil concepts stand in sharp contrast to the applied indication methods in the soil science discipline. We investigated the potential to apply econometrical methods to assess soil quality, health, and security that serve as alternatives to more traditional In/Ix in soil science. A case study demonstrated the profound transformative potential of linking econometrics- soil-environmental sciences.