Total carbon measurement in soils using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy : Results from the field and implications for carbon sequestration
- Michael H.
- David D.
- Pat J.
- David A.
- Susan A.
- Monty J.
Rapid measurement of total carbon in soils is an important factor in modeling the effects of global change and carbon sequestration in soils. Conventional methods of carbon analysis such as dry combustion are relatively slow, and reliable estimation of carbon concentrations at the landscape scale is practically impossible because of the need for many replicate measurements. A new spectroscopic method, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), provides rapid carbon analysis with little or no sample preparation time. LIBS is portable and can be used for carbon analysis in the field or even in situ, such as inside a soil borehole. Data from LIBS analyses can be used to monitor small changes in soil carbon at different times, a critical component in many global climate models and terrestrial carbon sequestration strategies. We present a comparison of dry combustion measurements with LIBS analyses using several agricultural and woodland soils. The LIBS data are highly reproducible, are not affected by differences in soil types, and there is a strong correlation with dry combustion measurements. We further show the results of carbon measurements in different parts of a pinon-juniper woodland in semiarid New Mexico. Our results highlight soil carbon concentrations under tree canopies, in intercanopy spaces, and in small-scale catchments within the woodland. The latter measurements show an important, but until use of LIBS, overlooked store of carbon in semiarid areas. The use of LIBS data shows many benefits including reducing the uncertainty inherent in measurements of soil carbon in different environments, the speed with which LIBS analyses can be obtained (minutes) compared to dry combustion (days), and in modeling the global cycling of carbon in terrestrial settings. LIBS analyses make possible the estimation of landscape-scale carbon inventories that require large sample numbers as well as detailed quantification of carbon concentrations in soils under canopies or unvegetated patches.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 975148
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-01-1097; TRN: US201008%%101
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: "Submitted to: "First National Conference on Carbon Sequestration National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), May 14-17, 2001, Washington, DC".
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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