Contemporary Use of Sensors for Soil Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment in the Context of Climate Change

There are ample opportunities to use newly introduced several low-cost digital sensing devices and technologies in soil testing and resource management services. These advanced sensors may help judicious fertilizer recommendations for nutrient-exhaustive cropping systems in different countries. It would be more convenient for the analyst, users, and government to capture the process and disseminate the required data or decisions in a time-saving manner. Farmers can get soil test reports from the laboratory in a short time. These efforts would encourage farmers of remote areas to test soil, particularly in tropical countries with more prevalent nutrient loss. This chapter discusses some low-cost proximal soil sensing devices like portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, color sensors, smartphone-based sensors, their operational theory, and contemporary uses with artificial intelligence (AI) and digital soil mapping techniques in soil characterization and mapping.