310
April 2014
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
In the fifth paper, “Semi-Automated Disaggregation of
Conventional Soil Maps Using Knowledge Driven Data
Mining and Random Forests in the Sonoran Desert,
USA,” Nauman
et al.
demonstrate the importance of
integrating legacy soil surveys, appropriately processed,
with several environmental covariates derived from
remotely sensed data and digital elevation models.
Their methodology employs disaggregation of soil
survey data to provide a finer scale field data set for
use by environmental professionals to implement
resource conservation strategies in diverse landscapes.
Given the high level of agreement with independent
field validation sites, the disaggregated maps not
only provide useful soil property information at finer
resolution than the original soil survey data but also
generate estimates of prediction uncertainty useful for
resource management purposes.
Our sixth paper in this issue is an Applications
Paper, “Monitoring Agricultural Soil Sealing in Peri-
Urban Areas Using Remote Sensing,” in which Su
et
al.
effectively integrate remote sensing, geographic
information systems, and digital soil data to
characterize the dynamics of agricultural soil loss,
defined as sealing of the soil surface due to rapid
construction of urban infrastructure, or urbanization.
Using traditional manual interpretation of aerial
photographs, they were able to monitor the expansion
of built-up land and estimate the rate of soil sealing
over a twelve-year period. Using well-established
spatial analysis methods, vulnerability of agricultural
soils to urban development was mapped in relation to
urban infrastructure proximity, population growth, and
economic development. Their results reinforce the need
for smart growth modeling in suburban areas supported
by spatial data derived from aerial imagery.
We thank those authors who contributed papers to
this special issue and express our sincere appreciation
to all reviewers who conducted their reviews with
due diligence in a timely manner and with a high
degree of professionalism. We are grateful for the
opportunity afforded to us by the
PE&RS
Editor-in-
Chief to convey to our fellow geospatial professionals
the critical importance of imaging and geospatial data
for characterizing, mapping, and monitoring our most
valuable natural resource.
Special Issue Editors
Stephen D. DeGloria, Department of Crop and Soil
Sciences, Cornell University,
James R. Irons, Earth Science Division, NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center,
Larry T. West, formerly USDA-NRCS National Soil
Survey Center,
