Research Article

Instrumentation in Soil Science: An advanced overview

Suleiman Usman1*, James O. Jayeoba2, Sani Mathew Amana2
1 Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University Dutse (FUD), Jigawa State, Nigeria.
2 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University (NSU), Lafia Campus, Nasarawa State, Nigeria
* Corresponding author: labboallugu@yahoo.com
Published: Apr, 2025
DOI: 10.67042/njss.2025.006pn9yq
Pages: 46-53
Views: 565
Downloads: 791

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of what soil science instruments entail in the global academic environment. This paper focused on developments in advanced soil science equipment with a specific compilation of forty (40) different instruments and their brief application. These sets of instruments are found to be applicable in soil science based on (a) optical methods, which focus on the measurement of the optical properties of substances, (b) chromatographic methods, which focus on the use of different substances for selective sorption, (c) electrochemical methods, which emphasize the measurement of the electrochemical properties of substances, (c) radiometric methods,which are built on the measurement of the radioactive properties of substances, (d) thermal methods, which are centred on the measurement of the heat effects of substancesand mass spectrometric methods, which are established for studying the ionized fragments (‘splinters’) of substances, and (w) kinetic methods, which focus on the measurement of the dependence of the reaction speed on the concentration of substances. The practical applications of these methods have provided significant contributions to the detailed understanding of primary and secondary soil properties, especially organic matter (or organic carbon), carbonate (or inorganic carbon), total nitrogen, clay minerals, iron content, particle size fractions of clay, silt and sand, and water content.

Keywords

Soil Science Instruments Optical Methods Soil Properties Vis-NIR MIR Spectra

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How to Cite

Usman, S., Jayeoba, J. O., & Amana, S. M. (2025). Instrumentation in Soil Science: An advanced overview. Nigerian Journal of Soil Science, 34(1), 46-53. https://doi.org/10.67042/njss.2025.006pn9yq

S. Usman, J. O. Jayeoba, and S. M. Amana, "Instrumentation in Soil Science: An advanced overview," Nigerian Journal of Soil Science, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 46-53, April 2025. doi: 10.67042/njss.2025.006pn9yq

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