Optical Soil Carbon Characterization and Monitoring

Soil cultivation and farming are major sources of carbon dioxide that is a key factor in the global climate change. Soil is also the second largest carbon storage on Earth and, thus, an important part of global carbon circulation. Recently, the aim has been taken to transform soil form a carbon source to a carbon sink. However, as soil carbon is difficult and expensive to monitor, the carbon behavior in soils is poorly known. This project aims to implement Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to soil carbon characterization and monitoring. LIBS arrangement provides information on target sample's elemental composition by laser-inducing a small plasma plume on the sample surface. It is a fast and compact method that has the potential to a breakthrough in soil sciences. Continuous soil carbon monitoring enables development and supervision of novel carbon binding soil cultivation methods and, furthermore, aids the simulations describing the global carbon circulation.