SmartSolos expert: An expert system for Brazilian soil classification

Abstract

We have developed an expert system for Brazilian soil classification according to the official taxonomic system in Brazil. It assists in improving soil data quality, which is important for sustainable agriculture. A rule-based expert system is an appropriate approach for addressing this problem, and SmartSolos Expert is the first one based on the Brazilian soil classification system considering all the classes from the 1st to the 4th level, involving more than a thousand classes. We developed the expert system, made it available through a web Application Programming Interface, and specified a schema for input and output data. Since it always returns accurate classification, it has been used to identify inconsistencies, curate Brazilian soil data, and examine possibilities for improvements to the Brazilian Soil Classification System.

Keywords

• Brazilian soil classification system
• Data curation
• Expert system
• Soil classification
• Soil data
• Soil management