Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55

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Geoderma

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geoderma

Assessing soil organic matter of reclaimed soil from a large surface coal
mine using a field spectroradiometer in laboratory
Nisha Bao a,⁎, Lixin Wu a, Baoying Ye b, Ke Yang c,d,e, Wei Zhou f
a
Institute for Geo-informatics & Digital Mine Research, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
b
Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
c
School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
d
Key Laboratory of Geochemical Cycling of Carbon and Mercury in the Earth's Critical Zone, Institute of Geophysical & Geochemical Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Langfang
065000, China
e
Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geoscience, Langfang 065000, China
f
School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Soil organic matter (SOM) for topsoil is one of most important indicators to support the success of mine ecological
Received 8 June 2016 reclamation. SOM varies along the artificial mine landscape characterized by different bench-slopes of dump. Re-
Received in revised form 27 October 2016 flectance using field spectroscopy can provide useful information on the assessment of punctual soil variation,
Accepted 28 October 2016
and has the advantages of speed and efficiency. The aims of this study were to 1) explore the characteristic spec-
Available online 13 November 2016
trum of reclaimed soil of different landforms, 2) develop a key spectral-ratio index for evaluating SOM content,
Keywords:
and 3) establish a SOM prediction model using the Partial Least Square Regression-Support Vector Machine
Reclamation (PLS-SVM) method. Based on comprehensive analysis of the relationship between SOM content and correspond-
Spectroscopy ing spectral reflectance in soils from different landforms, the results showed a new derived spectral index would
Soil organic matter be useful for estimating SOM. The ratio spectral index (R2294 nm / R2286 nm), calculated using available wavebands
Large surface mining in the 350–2500 nm region, was proposed for use in the reliable estimation of SOM from downslope and
PLS-SVM midslope. The PLS-SVM calibration model for the raw spectrum, showed a high predictive accuracy for estimating
the SOM content, with cross-validated R2 of 0.95, and RMSE of 0.12. These outcomes provide a theoretical basis
and technical support for estimations of SOM content using visible/near-infrared spectra in reclamation areas. It
is proposed that the spectral difference index and model undergo further testing and optimization prior to wider
application for observation of mine-reclamation ecosystems.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The mining and processing of mineral resources, particularly those ex-
tracted by surface mining, which require the complete removal of vegeta-
tion, surface soil and bedrock, and the mixtures of removed soil and rock
are commonly stored in large stockpiles or dumps. The reclamation of the
topsoil covering the waste rock dump or tailing dump is a primary strat-
egy used to restore vegetation and for landform stability. Monitoring the
progressive changes in the soil conditions during reclamation until the
soil properties can support self-sustaining plant growth is critical for suc-
cessful reclamation programmes. The processes of soil formation over
landscapes, along with reclamation-induced soil changes, have created
soil variation and areas of varying reclamation age within different
bench-slopes of a dump. Multiple, interactive soil properties influence
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: baonisha@hotmail.com (N. Bao), awulixin@263.net (L. Wu),
yeebaoying@gmail.com (B. Ye), rockyangke@hotmail.com (K. Yang), zhouw@cugb.edu.cn
(W. Zhou).
the suitability of soil for reclamation. These are complex and vary spatially
and temporally within the field of activity (Barnes et al., 2003). The tradi-
tional methods for the chemical analysis of soil properties are relatively
complex, time consuming, and expensive. Reflectance can provide useful
information for the assessment of punctual soil variation (Demattê and da
Silva Terra, 2014) and has the advantages of speed and efficiency. Soil or-
ganic matter (SOM) is one of the main driving forces behind soil property
prediction using soil spectroscopy (Vašát et al., 2014). The organic matter
present in soils has distinct spectral features in the NIR region because of
the relatively strong absorption overtones and combination modes of sev-
eral functional groups [for example: aliphatic C\\H,\\COOH (carboxyl),
\\OH (hydroxyl), and N\\H (in amines and amides)] present in organic
compounds (Ben-Dor et al., 1997).
Many multivariate techniques have been used to build prediction
models to extract quantitative information from spectral features. Par-
tial Least Squares regression (PLS) yields the overall best results and is
the most robust with respect to predicting the soil properties of soil
types (Ge et al., 2014; Nocita et al., 2011; Viscarra Rossel et al., 2006).
A Support Vector Machine (SVM) employs a set of linear equations,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.10.033
0016-7061/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
48 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55
rather than quadratic programming problems, to obtain support vectors
and has attracted attention and gained extensive application in spectral
analysis. The integration of PLS-SVM results in better prediction accura-
cy than using only one model because PLS can remove unreliable infor-
mation associated with the samples (Chauchard et al., 2004). The
prediction accuracy of PLS-SVM models relies on a wide range of spec-
tral bandwidths (Xuemei and Jianshe, 2013). Apart from multivariate
techniques, spectral indices, which are calculated based on the sensitive
wavebands related to the biophysical attributes, can be used to predict
different soil properties. This approach has the advantage of applicabil-
ity to various spectroradiometer sensors with different wavelength po-
sition, bandwidth or number of bands, and it is less complicated to apply
in soil evaluation than multivariate techniques (Bartholomeus et al.,
2008). Moreover, spectral indices might be applied to remote-sensing
sensors to assess the land-surface parameters in arid areas on a land-
scape or regional scale.
It is difficult to use a general model to estimate the SOM content at
the scale of local mining because the national soil VIS-NIR library out-
performs local-scale models (Gogé et al., 2014). The local calibration
of soil spectroscopic models of field sampling sets may be more accurate
than national calibration (Wetterlind and Stenberg, 2010). Currently,
traditional field sampling and extraction and digestion laboratory
methods are the primary techniques used to assess soil properties dur-
ing mine reclamation. The mining process, particularly for large surface
mines, takes a few decades, and is followed by the mine reclamation
project. Soil properties are important indicators for assessing reclama-
tion and require long-term, effective, rapid monitoring techniques
(Banning et al., 2008). There is strong potential for NIR spectroscopy
to be used in the assessment of mine soil quality (Pietrzykowski and
Chodak, 2014). Few studies exist on the quantitative estimation of the
SOM content in the reclaimed mine soil of the Loess Plain region of
China, which is covered with large mining areas. The main aims of this
study include: 1) to explore the characteristic spectrum of reclaimed
Fig. 1. Photograph of the mine area showing the open pits, bare soil and reclaimed dumps (left) and digital elevation model (DEM) of the studied dump (right).
soil of different landforms, 2) to develop a key spectral-ratio index for
evaluating SOM content, and 3) to establish a SOM prediction model
using the PLS-SVM method.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of mine reclamation
The Pingshuo Surface Coal Mine (PSCM) is located on the Loss Pla-
teau in Central China. As one of the largest coal mines, PSCM has been
active since 1987; however, the surface coalmine has been used for N
100 years. Given the environmental rules and regulations affecting min-
ing, a reclamation project was undertaken in addition to the mining ex-
ploration. The study area is the west dump, which covers approximately
0.4 km2 and is one of the reclaimed dumps of the PSCM (Fig. 1). The first
reclamation project to create conditions for the substantial use of a
dump was conducted at the west dump in 1993.
Soil substrates on the reclaimed dump consist of rock and coal gangue
material from the waste rock dump. This substrate has poor structure,
high stone content, and low content of organic matter, nitrogen, phospho-
rus, and other nutrients. Therefore, over 30 cm of topsoil (natural Loess) is
used as a growth medium, to cover the dump and to support revegeta-
tion. Artificial revegetation is used to accelerate the revegetation process.
The west dump vegetation is dominated by perennial grasses (Medicago
sativa L.) on the dump slope and other species (Hippophae rhamnoides
L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Populus simonii Carr) on the dump flat.
2.2. Sampling design and analyses
Terrain factors play a role in the selection of an appropriate sample
plan. Pennock (2003) developed landform segmentation procedures, in-
cluding flat, upslope, mid-slope, and downslope categories, to analyse the
topography-soil redistribution relationship. This landform segmentation
 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55
procedure has been applied in multiple few studies, which indicated a
regional-scale pattern of soil redistribution associated with landform
elements (Lark, 1999; Pennock, 2003; Young and Hammer, 2000). In
particular, the artificial landscape of a dump comprises flats and various
side slopes. At a reclaimed dump, the soil in convex slope units
dominates the spatial redistribution pattern of soil organic matter
(Hansen and Loveland, 2012). The landform classification was conducted
using a digital elevation model (DEM) with 1-m resolution. A computer
programme based on the ARCGIS 9.2 workstation was developed for
automatic landform classification. The terrain attributes were used to
place each grid of the DEM into a discrete landform element class using
pre-defined ranges of morphological and positional terrain attributes.
The morphological attributes of the gradient and profile curvature
were used to classify the cells into flat, upslope, mid-slope, and
downslope elements. Furthermore, these landform elements provided
references for the sampling design.
The sampling plots were assigned within the landform categories
using grid numbers according to a stratified, random-sample pattern.
This design maintains the necessary randomness and avoids the uneven
distribution of sample points among the map categories. This approach
assigns a specific number of sample points to each category in propor-
tion to the size or significance of the category and with regard to the
project objectives. In the end, there were 31, 19, 20, and 23 sample
plots were chosen in the flat, upslope, mid-slope, and downslope cate-
gories, respectively.
Field surveys were conducted at the west dump in July 2013 and
August 2015. No extreme weather occurred (e.g., storms or high
winds) during the sampling period. Field sampling was conducted in
10 m × 10 m plots, which were laid out with random orientations,
where the soil, landform, land cover were uniform based on visual
examination upon arrival at the field (Fig. 2). Ninety-three plots were
selected in total. At each plot, three 10-cm depth soil cores based on
walking a “V” were collected from within a 1-m diameter area. These
cores were bulked and cooled in the field and then transported and
processed in the laboratory. Each plot was composited as one soil sample.
Soil samples were oven-dried and sieved to a size fraction smaller
than 2 mm. Organic C was analysed by dry combustion on an LECO1
CHN elemental analyser (Vitti et al., 2016). A factor of 2, as proposed
by Pribyl (2010), was applied to estimate the SOM from the organic car-
bon. ANOVA with post hoc LSD (least-significant difference) test was
applied to compare the SOM content from different landforms.
2.3. Laboratory spectral measurement
The factors that would influence the accuracy of the measured
spectrum include 1) cloudy weather; 2) relief of the dump; 3)
Fig. 2. Landform elements of the west dump and the soil sampling plots.
49
background objects (trees and shrubs), and 4) the soil surface.
Thus, laboratory spectral measurement was selected to acquire the
standard spectrum.
Unaltered soil samples were spread on a tray with a sufficiently thick
soil layer (3–4 cm) to avoid beam reflectance from the bottom of the
tray. Downwelling solar and sky radiation penetrates approximately
1/2 wavelength into the soil, which could have the unwanted effect of
modifying the soil spectra (Workman Jr., 2001). A hand-held SVC-HR
1024 was used to record spectra in the range of 350–2500 nm with a
4° field of view at approximately 50 cm above the ground. This process
resulted in a ground-sampling diameter of approximately 5 cm. The
spectral resolution of the samples was 1.5 nm. The incident radiation
was measured by pointing the spectrometer at a white reference
panel fabricated from SpectraLon. Reference spectra were the average
of 10 spectra per sample.
2.4. Spectral data preprocessing
Spectral preprocessing using mathematical functions are commonly
used to correct for non-linearity, sample variation, and noisy spectra.
These methods can accentuate the spectral features and improve the
accuracy of prediction models. Measured diffuse reflectance spectra
(R) are generally transformed to absorbance (logarithm of the
reciprocal of reflectance, log 1/R) to linearize the relation between
the spectra and concentration of a target parameter (Stenberg et
al., 2010). R, log 1/R, and the first derivative of reflectance at each
waveband are then computed to remove baseline effects (Ben-Dor
et al., 2009). The first derivative of absorbance (R′) is computed by
dividing the difference of the absorbance values between the absor-
bance for band number n + 1 and band number n by the difference in
the wavelength for band number n + 1 and band number n, as
shown in Eq. (1).
0 ðRnþ1 −Rn Þ
R ¼ ð1Þ
ðλnþ1 −λn Þ
The spectral absorption index (SAI) (Jacquemoud et al., 1992) is deter-
mined based on continuum-removal spectra, which are used to describe
the shape of a spectrum. The SAI can also be defined as a straight line join-
ing two local reflectance maxima placed on the shoulders (S1 and S2) of
the peak absorption wavelength (M) (Fig. 3). Thus, SAI can indicate the
change from a peak to absorption reflectance, where H is the depth of
the wave, S1 and S2 are the left and right peak reflectances corresponding
to the absorption reflectance, and M is the absorption reflectance, as
shown in Eq. (2). This approach removes the effects from non-absorptive
50 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55
Fig. 3. Shape parameters of a spectrum.
materials, which contribute to the absorption features (Clark and Roush,
1984).
HλS1 þ ð1−HÞλS2
SAI ¼
Mλ
2.5. Prediction modelling methodology
2.5.1. Spectral index
A spectral index is a non-dimensional measure of spectral reflectance
that is obtained using an algebraic operation, such as a ratio, difference, or
normalized difference, of two or more bands, to quantify biophysical char-
acteristics (Jackson and Huete, 1991). Many vegetation spectral indices
have been developed and established with respect to vegetation canopy
and greenness (Ji et al., 2014; Kaufman and Tanre, 1992). For hyper-spec-
tral sensors, VNIR-based indices using longer wavelengths and narrow
bands are widely used (Oldeland et al., 2010; Tits et al., 2013).
A spectral response for the index in this study was used to establish a
correlative model with respect to the SOM. The ratio index (Eq. (3), RI),
normalized difference index (Eq. (4), NDI), and difference index (Eq.
(5), DI) were calculated using available wavebands in the 350–
2500 nm region. The calculated index generated band-by-band was cor-
related with the SOM content of the different landform soil types to se-
lect the best spectral indices to estimate the SOM content. Here,
RλaandRλb are the reflectance values at all combinations of wave-
lengths from the 350–2500 nm region. A computer programme based
on MATLAB was developed to generate the RI with the highest R2.
Rλa
RI ¼
Rλb
Rλa −Rλb
NDI ¼
Rλa þ Rλb
DI ¼ Rλa −Rλb
2.5.2. PLS-SVM model
The prediction models in this study were based on the PLS and SVM
techniques to extract quantitative information from the spectral fea-
tures. Cross-validation was used to validate the quality and to prevent
overfitting of the calibration model. The data were split into a training
set and a test set. We randomly selected 60 samples as the training set
and used the remaining 33 samples as the test set to validate the
model. Proper fitting was achieved using cross-validation, in which
the models were constructed each time by leaving some samples out
of the calibration data set for use in the validation process until all sam-
ples or groups were tested. The prediction performance was assessed
using the samples in the validation set.
PLS is a bilinear modelling technique in which information in the
original x data is projected onto a small number of underlying (“latent”)
variables called PLS components. The y data are actively used to estimate
the “latent” variables to ensure that the first components are those that
are most relevant for predicting the y variables. In this study, Y is the
actual value of SOM measured in the lab, and X is the spectra matrix.
Interpretation of the relationship between X and Y data is simplified
because this relationship is concentrated on the smallest possible number
of components. The aim of the PLSR approach is to develop a model with
the optimal number of components with the lowest root squared mean
error (RSME) and highest coefficient of determination (R2). SVM is a
popular data-mining method and was recently proposed for use in
VIS-NIR modelling. SVM is a kernel-based learning method from statisti-
cal learning theory. It is possible to derive a linear hyperplane as a
decision function for nonlinear problems. The programmes used for the
PLS calculations were from the PLS package in R version 3.2.0. The SVM
was operated using the “e1071 package”, an R interface to the library
for support vector machines (LIBSVM). To integrate PLS-SVM, the compo-
nent factors generated from the PLS model, which remove unreliable in-
formation associated with samples, were considered as the input matrix
ð2Þ
for developing the SVM model. PLS-SVM is capable of linear and nonlinear
multivariate analysis and can solve these problems relatively quickly.
The RMSE and adjusted R2 value of the predictions were calculated
to verify the predictions of the model. The residual prediction deviation
(RPD, the ratio of the standard deviation to RMSE) was used to evaluate
the stability and accuracy of the multivariable models (Chang et al.,
2002). The best prediction models are characterized by an RPD N 2.0,
with an R2 of 0.80–1.0. The RPD value is most meaningful when the
validation set is independent of the calibration set; however, with
leave-one-out cross-validation, it is still a useful indicator to describe
the potential of the technology. Leave-one-out cross-validation was
also used for the quantification of prediction biases and errors.
3. Results
3.1. Spectral properties of reclaimed soil
The most significant difference in SOM values occurred between the
upslope and downslope (P b 0.05) (Table 1). The soil from the down-
slope had the highest average SOM value (14.16 g/kg).
The reflectance spectra for all soil samples had a typical soil-curve
shape: relatively low in the blue region and increasing gradually
towards the NIR region. The reflectance curve was concave between
450 and 850 nm due to the presence of crystalline iron (Vitorello and
Galvão, 1996), which resulted in the first peak reflectance occurring at
ð3Þ
Table 1
LSD test for the SOM of different landforms.
ð4Þ
SOM (g/kg) Mean ± SD
Flat Upslope 0.105 ± 0.234
ð5Þ Downslope −0.456 ± 0.234
Mid-slope −0.182 ± 0.228
Upslope Flat −0.105 ± 0.234
Downslope −0.561 ± 0.264⁎
Mid-slope −0.287 ± 0.259
Downslope Flat 0.456 ± 0.234
Upslope 0.561 ± 0.264⁎
Mid-slope 0.274 ± 0.259
Mid-slope Flat 0.182 ± 0.228
Upslope 0.287 ± 0.259
Downslope −0.274 ± 0.259
LSD: least-significant difference; SOM: soil organic matter.
⁎ Significant at P b 0.05.
 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55
Fig. 4. Averaged soil spectra and first derivative spectra for different landforms.
623 nm (visible light, orange to humans), corresponding to the highest
value from the first derivative spectrum.
The soil spectra were categorized into four groups according to land-
form elements: flat, upslope, mid-slope, and downslope. As shown in
Fig. 4, the level of reflectance corresponded to the SOM of the soils:
the higher the level of reflectance, the lower the SOM. As shown in
the first derivative spectra, there were several doublet-like features
that crossed the x-axis at the original maximum position, particularly
near the blue (350–400 nm) and red (620–760 nm) regions. The
major spectral feature between 600 and 800 nm was the most signifi-
cance for the SOM values (Galvão and Vitorello, 1998). Therefore, in
this region, the characteristics of the major feature (600–800 nm)
were calculated to describe the different soil types (Table 2). The spec-
tral shapes of the four soil types were similar, with a peak at 665 nm.
The soil from the upslope had the lowest SOM and the highest SAI
(1.5149), which was significantly different from the SAI of the soil
from other landforms (Table 2).
3.2. Correlation between the SOM and spectra indices
The average SOM content of natural reference soil around the min-
ing area was 10 g/kg. The aim of reclamation is to compatible with the
surrounding environmental factors, including the soil properties, vege-
tation cover and land use. Thus, a limit of 10 g/kg of SOM is considered
an indicator of the pre-reclamation stage. Additionally, there was a sig-
nificant difference (P b 0.05) between the SOM content of the upslope
and downslope. Therefore, soil samples were grouped into two classes
in terms of SOM content. One class consisted of downslope and mid-
Fig. 5. Correlation coefficients between soil organic matter and the ratio index (A), normalized difference index (B), and difference index (C) for mid-slope and downslope soils.
51
slope samples with SOM content N 10 g/kg. The other class consisted
of upslope and flat samples with SOM content b10 g/kg. The spectral in-
dices (NDI, NI, and RI) were then calculated band-by-band and the Pear-
son correlation coefficient was calculated between the spectral indices
and SOM for each sample. The correlation between the SOM content
and the calculated ratios are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The right bar
shows the value of the Pearson correlation coefficient by colour, and
the x- and y-axes represent the wavelengths 350–2500 nm. A dark or-
ange colour represents a high Pearson correlation coefficient between
the spectral index and SOM. There is a strong relationship between
the SOM and the indices for the mid-slope and downslope soil with
higher SOM compared to the upslope and flat soil. The mid-slope and
downslope soil had the highest Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.78
at 2293 nm on the x-axis and 2268 nm on the y-axis, which is referred
to as the RI R2293 nm / R2268 nm (Fig. 5A, Table 3). The DI (R642 nm −
R631 nm), with a coefficient of 0.76, performed better than NDI
{(R1892 nm −R1392 nm) / (R1892 nm + R1392 nm)}, with a Pearson correla-
tion coefficient of 0.68 (Fig. 5B,C). However, when the SOM value was
relatively low, such as for soil from the flat (9.6 g/kg) and upslope
(8.55 g/kg) areas, the correlations between the spectral indices and
SOM content were not strong. The Pearson correlation coefficients be-
tween the SOM of the flat and upslope areas and the three indices
were b0.60 (Fig. 6, Table 3).
3.3. PLS-SVM SOM prediction model
First, the input data, including the raw spectrum and transformed
spectrum (derivative and LOG), were prepared for PLS to develop a
52 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55

Fig. 6. Correlation coefficients between soil organic matter and the ratio index (A), normalized difference index (B), and difference index (C) for flat and upslope soils.

multivariate calibration model (Table 4). The PLS model with the raw
spectrum input data resulted in the highest prediction capability, with
RPD = 2.90 for calibration (R2 = 0.90, RMSE = 0.16) (Fig. 7B). For val-
idation (Fig. 7A), the modelling method was improved according to
RPD = 2.9 (R2 = 0.65, RMSE = 0.20) (Fig. 7). Second, considering the
good performance off the raw spectrum in the PLS model, 12 compo-
nent factors generated from the PLS model were considered as the
input matrix to develop the SVM model (Table 4). As shown in Fig. 8,
the selected 12 components from the entire VIS-NIR spectrum (350–
2500 nm) produced a more accurate prediction, with R2 = 0.95 and
RMSE = 0.12 for calibration (Fig. 8B) and R2 = 0.73 and RMSE = 0.16
for validation (Fig. 8A).
4. Discussion
4.1. Reclamation of SOM and spectral properties
Hillslope processes affect the distribution of soil organic C, clay and
nutrients, which may lead to the various soil attributes at different land-
form elements (Young and Hammer, 2000). In this particular case, for
reclaimed dumps at large surface mines, the dominant features of the
artificial landscape can be described as flat, upslope, mid-slope, and
downslope. The formation of stable soil organic matter fractions and
their downhill transport and deposition in hollow areas affect the
organic matter content, which results in a higher SOM content at the
downslope. During reclamation, the flat areas are compressed by large
mining equipment, which results in over-compaction of the soil. This
over-compaction might reduce the soil volume available for exploita-
tion by young plant roots (Braunack et al., 2006). The relative lack of
vegetation would contribute to the relatively low SOM in flat areas.
Although the top soil at the dump was reclaimed similarly through-
out, after several years, the reclaimed soil of different landforms was
spatially smoothed and transformed from simplex space to real space,
which suggests that the reclaimed soil responds to environmental fac-
tors similarly to natural soil (Ludwig et al., 2003). Thus, the spectral
characteristics would be efficient and useful indictors for understanding
the progressive changes in the surface soil of various landforms. Our re-
sults indicated that the characteristic spectra of soil samples (via spec-
troscopy) could be used to discriminate soil with different levels of
SOM in various landform positions. The SOM concentration was indicat-
ed by differences in the absorption area at a peak of 665 nm. The soils
varied in absorbance in the visible light region, which was mainly asso-
ciated with iron-containing minerals and the presence of SOM (St. Luce
et al., 2014). Ertlen et al. (2015) found that the NIR spectra of SOM from
deep horizons make it possible to recognize the vegetation conditions
using these profiles. This study revealed that the characteristic spectra
for SOM provide the ability to understand the reconstruction of past
soil environments under different landform conditions.

Fig. 7. (A) Calibration between the observed and predicted values of SOM based on the raw spectrum using the PLS model with the calibration set of 60 samples. (B) Validation between the
observed and predicted values of SOM based on the raw spectrum using the PLS model with 33 test set samples. SOM: soil organic matter.
 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55 53

Fig. 8. (A) Calibration between the observed and predicted values of SOM based on the raw spectrum using the PLS-SVM model with the 60 calibration set samples. (B) Validation between
the observed and predicted values of SOM based on the raw spectrum using the PLS–SVM model with the 33 test set samples. SOM: soil organic matter.

4.2. Effective VIS-NIS spectroscopy for predicting SOM
Multiple spectral indices have been widely proposed to estimate soil
nutrient parameters, such as the spectral soil quality index (SSQI) pro-
posed by Paz-Kagan et al. (2014). This method was based on reflectance
spectroscopy for characterizing soil function in areas of changed land
use. In this study, a spectral index was developed by classifying the
soil samples into two types, according to the SOM concentration. The ac-
curacy of the predictions by the spectral index was influenced by the
sample-set homogeneity (Brunet et al., 2007). The downslope and
mid-slope soil-spectrum index had stronger correlation with SOM.
When the SOM value was relatively low, such as for soil from flat
(9.6 g/kg) and upslope (8.55 g/kg) areas, there were not very strong cor-
relations between the spectral difference ratio index (RI: R862 nm /
R858 nm) and the SOM content. For soil samples from a litchi orchard
in South China, DI for 1340 nm–1380 nm produced highly significant
correlation coefficients (Li et al., 2012). The sensitive or optimal spectral
index response to SOM was uncertain in relation to different soil types
and sample sizes. Thus, for reclaimed soil at the local scale, the differ-
ence index (RI: R2293 nm / R2286 nm) is recommended for reliable estima-
tion of the SOM content for soil from the downslope and mid-slope.
Compared with the PLS modelling method, the use of PLS-SVM is ad-
vantageous for spectra because it can perform nonlinear regression effi-
ciently for high-dimensional data sets. According to the optimum scores
from PLS as the input for the SVM model, very reliable cross-validation
and external validation of SOM were achieved by establishing the PLS-
SVM model directly upon the characteristic spectral absorption. The
PLS-SVM model performed slightly better than the PLS model. One pos-
sible reason was that the PLS-SVM model considered the useful nonlin-
ear information of the spectral data, while PLS only used the linear
relationships between the spectra data and SOM (Rossel and Behrens,
2010). Our study provided the optimal spectral bands (R2293 nm /
R2268 nm) for predicting the SOM content of reclaimed mine soil of the
Loess Plantae mining area. Future research will focus on repeatable ob-
servations within predictable levels of error to determine the optimal
geometric configuration of the source and error and the optimal time
of the year for SOM measurement.
In this study, satisfactory SOM content estimations were achieved
based on laboratory soil spectral measurements using PLS-SVM and
spectral indices. The PLS-SVM method considered many SOM content-
related bands and exhibited enhanced sensitivity to changes in SOM
content. The RMSE of the regression between the measured and pre-
dicted values was 0.16 g/kg. The ability of multivariate techniques to as-
sociate complicated spectral information with target attributes without
sample distribution constraints makes them ideal to describe the intri-
cate and complex nonlinear relationships between spectral signatures
and various environmental conditions (Ramirez-Lopez et al., 2013).
Spectral indices have merits, especially with respect to the simplicity

Table 2
Characteristic features of the spectrum at 600–800 nm for different soil types.

Landform Peak Width Depth Symmetry SAI (spectral absorption index)

Flat 665 nm 11.10 0.2226 0.3986 1.3517

Upslope 665 nm 15.20 0.4978 0.0611 1.5149
Mid-slope 665 nm 8.30 0.1408 0.1920 1.3453
Downslope 665 nm 11.10 0.2418 0.1297 1.3337

Table 3
Spectral indices and correlation coefficients for different soil types (RI: ratio index; DI: difference index; NDI: normalized difference index).

Soil RI NDI DI

Flat Wavelength 862/858 nm 967/964 nm 862/858 nm

upslope Coefficient of correlation 0.62 0.60 0.61
Down Wavelength 2293/2286 nm 1892/1392 nm 642/631 nm
mid-slope Coefficient of correlation 0.78 0.68 0.76
54 N. Bao et al. / Geoderma 288 (2017) 47–55
Table 4
Input data and output results of the PLS model.
Input data Number of External Cross-validation
components validation
R2 RSME RPD R2 RMSE RPD
Raw 12 0.65 0.20 2.90 0.90 0.16 3.60
Derivative 6 0.15 0.66 0.87 0.75 0.27 2.10
Derivative 10 0.35 0.46 1.26 0.78 0.25 2.32
1/LOG
LOG 10 0.51 0.24 2.41 0.87 0.20 2.90
of application. Spectral indices based on spectral differences have the
advantage of rapid tracing of soil quality and its changes after long-
term mining land reclamation management (Paz-Kagan et al., 2014).
Furthermore, the methods are feasible from the laboratory and field
scale to the scale of remote-sensing sensors.
5. Conclusions
VIS-NIR spectroscopy analysis facilitated the reliable quantitative as-
sessment of soil organic matter in the reclamation soil of a mining area.
The advantages of using spectroscopy include: 1) the visible spectrum
at approximately 600 nm can be used to discriminate the different soil
types found in various landforms; 2) the ratio spectral index
(R2294 nm / R2286 nm) calculated using available wavebands in the 350–
2500 nm region was proposed for use in the reliable estimation of
SOM from the downslope and mid-slope; 3) the PLS-SVM model
based on the raw spectrum produced higher accuracy than the PLS
model for predicting the SOM concentration. The results demonstrated
that spectroscopy is a reliable, reproducible, rapid, and low-cost tech-
nique for the in situ diagnosis of soil properties to support mining recla-
mation. In addition, this study opens the way for the assessment and
monitoring of the reclaimed soil of mining areas at high resolution,
without limitations related to the cost and time required to process
large numbers of physical samples. However, a large number of samples
from various depths should be collected in a practical and timely man-
ner, and the analysis should be repeated. This process should be con-
ducted to determine the optimal sampling design and algorithms for
data mining, both as a preliminary to future field surveys and to make
the combination of spectroscopic analysis and PLS-SVM more robust
and reliable for monitoring and modelling mining environments.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China
for young researchers (41401233), the Fundamental Research Funds
for the Central Universities (N120801001), and the Geological Survey
and Mineral Resources Assessment Project (No. 12120113002600).
We appreciate the suggestions from the anonymous two reviewers.
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