Abstract

Liquid dairy manure is a major organic input to cultivated soils. Therefore, a method for monitoring the mineralisation of slurries should be a useful tool for managing soil fertilisation. In order to examine whether the biodegradation of cattle sludge can be monitored by near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, soil samples from a laboratory incubation experiment were analysed using this rapid and inexpensive method. Five different cattle slurries were added to three soils with increasing clay content in such an amount as to give 130 ppm of total nitrogen. The resulting 18 experimental treatments (three control soils and 15 soil-slurry combinations) were incubated for 180 days under optimal temperature and soil water content. Each treatment was sampled at 0, 2, 8, 12, 16, 21, 29, 41, 72, 121 and 180 days: the respired CO₂ was captured in alkali traps and mineral N was extracted using 1 M KCl. Three replicates of each sampling were analysed individually. The resulting 648 samples, air dried and ground at 0.5 mm, were analysed by NIR spectroscopy using an Antaris (Thermo Nicolet) Fourier transform-NIR spectrometer. Although the slurries and soil mineralised carbon represent only a very small part of the total soil organic carbon, the mineralisation of carbon can be clearly monitored by NIR spectroscopy in both amended and unamended soils. Whereas NO₃–N evolution was difficult to predict using NIR data, the results for NH₄–N were more encouraging. Using measurements of CO₂–C respired, a two-pool mineralisation model was developed and the simulated concentration of carbon pools in the soils were used for the development of NIR equations. The results obtained in this work have demonstrated that NIR is a useful tool for monitoring the carbon mineralisation process when cattle sludge is incorporated into agricultural soils.

© 2008 IM Publications LLP

Accurate and rapid detection of soil and fertilizer properties based on visible/near-infrared spectroscopy

Zhidan Lin, Rujing Wang, Yubing Wang, Liusan Wang, Cuiping Lu, Yang Liu, Zhengyong Zhang, and Likai Zhu
Appl. Opt. 57(18) D69-D73 (2018)

Spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy and multivariate analysis applied to the measurement of total carbon in soil

Morgan S. Schmidt, Kellen J. Sorauf, Keith E. Miller, David Sonnenfroh, Richard Wainner, and Amy J. R. Bauer
Appl. Opt. 51(7) B176-B182 (2012)

Rapid detection of carbon-nitrogen ratio for anaerobic fermentation feedstocks using near-infrared spectroscopy combined with BiPLS and GSA

Jinming Liu, Nan Li, Feng Zhen, Yonghua Xu, Wenzhe Li, and Yong Sun
Appl. Opt. 58(18) 5090-5097 (2019)

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for the environmental determination of total carbon and nitrogen in soils

Madhavi Z. Martin, Stan D. Wullschleger, Charles T. Garten, and Anthony V. Palumbo
Appl. Opt. 42(12) 2072-2077 (2003)

Mid-infrared laser reflectance of moist soils

Ram M. Narayanan, Steven E. Green, and Dennis R. Alexander
Appl. Opt. 32(30) 6043-6052 (1993)