Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

We are requesting a field portable instrument that measures the reflectance of visible and near-infrared radiation down a soil profile. This instrument is called a visible/near-infrared (VIS/NIR) spectrophotometeric probe. This probe can accurately assess soil carbon contents in a soil and is used by simply inserting the probe into the soil. Because this instrument measures soil carbon very quickly and at no cost, it will allow us to construct very finely detailed maps of soil carbon in the Arctic, provincial Norths and agricultural ecosystem. We need to do this because soil carbon varies quite a bit across a field and getting a precise estimate using traditional techniques requires a large number of samples which are costly and time consuming. In contrast, this probe will allow us to do the work of a few weeks of laboratory analysis in an afternoon. Soil scientists use soil carbon to help characterize a terrestrial ecosystem. The probe will provide us with real-time results in the field. This real-time information will allow us to change our sampling and treatment designs in the field to better reflect field conditions. The majority of the faculty of the department are on this proposal and we anticipate that this probe will be highly used throughout the field season.