Effects of water, organic matter, and iron forms in mid-IR spectra of soils: Assessments from laboratory to satellite-simulated data

Abstract

The soil mineralogical constitution directly influences its chemical, physical and hydraulic characteristics. Although very important, it is still rarely used for decision-making in agriculture, mainly due to the complexity and cost of standard analyzes. In this sense, the middle infrared spectroscopy (mid-IR, 4000 to 400 cm−1) has great potential to obtain soil mineralogical information quickly and accurately. Nevertheless, some soil constituents can severely influence the spectra and produce misinterpretations. In this research, we aim to detect changes in the mid-IR spectra caused by water, iron forms and organic matter (OM), and to relate soil attributes to laboratory spectra and remote sensing simulated spectral bands. The research area is located in São Paulo State, Brazil, where seventeen soil samples were collected. The reflectance intensities, shapes and absorption features of the mid-IR spectra before and after the removal of OM and iron forms and the addition of water were described. Soil attributes, such as kaolinite, gibbsite, 2:1 minerals among others were correlated with the mid-IR spectra and simulated ASTER spectral bands by Pearson's analysis, to verify its potential on mineralogical evaluation. The description of mid-IR revealed that the removal of the OM from the soil samples decreased the reflectance intensities between 4000 and 2000 cm−1. Iron forms mainly influence the 3250 – 1200 cm−1 spectral range and mask the spectral features of other minerals as well. The addition of water masked several absorption features and decreased the reflectance intensities from 3700 to 2700 cm−1. High correlation coefficients were obtained between soil attributes and ASTER simulated spectral bands, which allowed the selection of potential spectral regions for future satellite sensors: 2760 – 2500 cm−1 (3600 – 4000 nm), 2150 – 1875 cm−1 (4600 – 5300 nm), and 840 – 740 cm−1 (11900 – 3500 nm).