Differentiating Soils from Arable and Fallow Land Using Spectrometry

Abstract

In this study, we analyse soil system responses—in particular, the colours of soils resulting from different types of land use (arable land and residential areas) caused by the construction of an ancient boundary rampart near a multilayer monument dating from between prehistory and the Middle Ages within the boundaries of the Bosporus Kingdom (Eastern Crimea)—in an area of modern and ancient (4th–2nd centuries BC) land use (Northwestern Crimea). These differences are of interest because they offer the chance to decipher different types of ancient land use and systems of land surveying, incorporating data from colour aerial photographs obtained with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles. Soil samples displaying different types of anthropogenic transformation were taken from the ancient boundary ramparts and adjacent land. The soil colour coordinates in the CIE L*a*b system were measured with the help of an AvaSpec-2048 spectrometer. Differences in colour coordinates were analysed using analysis of variance (NPMANOVA) based on the permutation test, the Kruskal–Wallis test, and the Mann–Whitney test, corrected according to multiple comparisons carried out as per the Bonferroni method. The results of this statistical analysis show that there are statistically significant differences in soil colour coordinates between samples collected on the ramparts and under various other types of land use. These differences are more pronounced in the samples characterised by the agrogenic transformation of soil. This makes it possible to use remote sensing data to detect traces of ancient boundary ramparts, even if the ramparts are partially destroyed by ploughing.