A novel spatial interpolation method based on integrated radial basis function artificial neural networks （IRBFANNs） is proposed to provide accurate and stable predictions of heavy metals concentrations in soil at un- sampled sites in a mountain region. The IRBFANNs hybridize the advantages of the artificial neural networks and the neural networks integration approach. Three experimental projects under different sampling densities are carried out to study the performance of the proposed IRBFANNs-based interpolation method. This novel method is compared with six peer spatial interpolation methods based on the root mean square error and visual evaluation of the distribution maps of Mn elements. The experimental results show that the proposed method performs better in accuracy and stability. Moreover, the proposed method can provide more details in the spatial distribution maps than the compared interpolation methods in the cases of sparse sampling density.
