Pedometric Treatment of Soil Attributes

There are some universally described soil attributes that are worthy of more detailed pedometricdescription. Here, we largely concentrate on field properties which have particular issues associated with them. We are not attempting to be exhaustive. Over the years most countries have performed field descriptions, and laboratory analysis of soil based on some kind of standard technique. The methods that can be utilized for in-situ field description were already developed in the 1950s and refined and standardised by most countries in the 1970s and 1980s. These efforts have resulted in what is referred to as soil legacy data. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate how these soil legacy data can be modified for pedometric, quantitative and in general terms more objective soil analysis. Here, we will also discuss how we can use these quantitative descriptions to perform a more quantitative analysis of soil attributes, utilizing mathematical descriptors or how we can achieve a more quantitative measurement and assessment of soil attributes utilizing new technology and computational advances.