Effectiveness of a soil mapping geomatic approach to predict the spatial distribution of soil types and their properties

A soil map (1:50,000 scale) was recently produced in Sardinia (Italy) using a cost-effective GIS approach. In this study we aimed to verify, in two pilot areas and by means of statistical analysis, the effectiveness of the adopted methodology in representing and predicting the spatial distribution of soil types and properties. We focused on evaluation of 1) the influence of landforms and parent materials on soil types (WRB Reference Soil Groups) and selected soil properties and 2) the suitability of the adopted methodology for calibrating a model to predict land unit composition in terms of different soil types.