THE LACK OF ACCURATE, HIGH RESOLUTION AND DYNAMIC SOIL DATA IS A KEY CHALLENGE FACING JUDICIOUS AND EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF SOIL RESOURCES FOR PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE. SOIL IS HISTORICALLY TREATED AS DISCRETE ENTITIES IN 3D (MAP UNIT POLYGONS IN LATERAL DIMENSION AND HORIZON LAYERS IN VERTICAL DIMENSION), WHEREAS IN REALITY, SOIL PROPERTIES VARY CONTINUOUSLY IN 3D. THE LACK OF SPATIALLY DENSE SOIL DATA HAS BECOME A BOTTLENECK FOR MANY MODERN APPLICATIONS SUCH AS PRECISION AGRICULTURE AND SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION RESEARCH. IN THIS PROJECT WE WILL DEVELOP A NOVEL CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEM TO ENABLE RAPID AND COST-EFFECTIVE MAPPING OF SOIL PROPERTIES IN 3D. THE PHYSICAL SYSTEM WILL COMBINE AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AND A CONTINUOUS-DEPTH SOIL PENETROMETER FOR RAPID SOIL SENSING IN LATERAL AND VERTICAL DIMENSIONS. THE CYBER SYSTEM WILL ENABLE SCALABLE MODELING, PREDICTION AND VISUALIZATION OF SOIL PROPERTIES IN 3D, AND PROVIDE DATA-GUIDED SAMPLING STRATEGY FOR THE PHYSICAL SYSTEM.THE UAV WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH A LIDAR SENSOR AND A MULTISPECTRAL CAMERA TO RAPIDLY COLLECT SURFACE TERRAIN DATA AND MULTIBAND SOIL IMAGES. THE CONTINUOUS-DEPTH SOIL PENETROMETER AT EACH SAMPLING LOCATION WILL COLLECT PENETRATION RESISTANCE, SOIL REFLECTANCE, AND ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY. THESE DATA WILL BE BROUGHT INTO A GEO-STATISTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR MODELING, MAKING INFERENCES, AND PREDICTING AT THE UNSAMPLED LOCATIONS. THE GENERATED 3D SOIL MAPS WILL THEN BE DISPLAYED TO END-USERS FOR INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION AND DATA-GUIDED SAMPLING. THE PROPOSED 3D SOIL MAPPING CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEM CAN BE BROADLY USED BY RESEARCHERS, CROP CONSULTANTS, NRCS FIELD SCIENTISTS, AND FARMERS TO RAPIDLY AND COST-EFFECTIVELY MEASURE SOIL PROPERTIES WITH HIGH RESOLUTION IN BOTH LATERAL AND VERTICAL DIMENSIONS. 3D SOIL MAPS GENERATED BY THE TECHNOLOGY WILL HAVE FAR-REACHING IMPACT ON MANY DISCIPLINES (SUCH AS PRECISION AGRICULTURE, SOIL MODELING, GEOCHEMICAL CYCLING AND CLIMATE CHANGE), AND LEAD TO MORE EFFECTIVE AND JUDICIOUS MANAGEMENT OF OUR SOIL RESOURCES.