Thesis subject

MSc thesis topic: Mapping soil exposure in the Netherlands

Knowledge about the spatial and temporal distribution of exposed soils is necessary for e.g., soil degradation mitigation. Earth Observation (EO) is a valuable data source for detecting exposed soils on a large scale.

Recently, a multitemporal compositing technique has been used for the generation of exposed soil that overcomes the limitation of temporarily coverage of the soils with vegetation. This technique has been further developed into a toolbox, the Soil Composite Mapping Processor (SCMaP). SCMap is used to build exposed soil masks containing all pixels in a given time period showing at least once exposed soil.

In this project, you will investigate if SCMaP can be used in the Netherlands to map soil exposure and derive relevant soil information for sustainable agricultural land management.

Developing a high-resolution 4-dimensional soil modelling and mapping platform for the Netherlands (BIS-4D)

Objectives

  • Compile a bare soil composite for a study area in the Netherlands
  • Derive relevant soil information for the purpose of soil monitoring
  • Evaluate the suitability of SCMap for mapping soil exposure in the Netherlands

Literature

Requirements

  • (open source) (Q)GIS and R scripting
  • Experience in using Remote Sensing data

Theme(s): Sensing & measuring; Integrated Land Monitoring