Recognition of the mineralogical composition of a haplic planosolo through spectroradiometry

Abstract

This work presents a study on the identification of the mineralogical composition of soil by using reflectance spectroradiometry. For this, we have used reflectance data obtained for 49 samples of a haplic planosol located in the Experimental Station Terras Baixas at Capão do Leão, Rio Grande do Sul state. Additionally, these data were processed using the continuum removal technique and the resulting spectral signatures were compared to the reference values ​​found in the literature. Results of this comparison indicated that the spectral signatures of the soil showed absorption features predominantly related to kaolinite, muscovite, wood fragments, and dry vegetation. Specifically, concentrations were observed varying between 30.10% and 57.09% for the element kaolinite with low crystallinity, between 32.40% and 34.19% for muscovite, 37.48% corresponding to wood fragments, and between 32.43% and 42.91% corresponding to dry vegetation. Finally, it was concluded that the technique used was effective in estimating the mineralogical composition of the soil and can be reliably applied in future studies.