Publication detail

Inter-instrument comparison of diffraction analysers for the determination of soil grain size fractions

TOMÁŠOVÁ, G. PASEKA, S.

Original Title

Inter-instrument comparison of diffraction analysers for the determination of soil grain size fractions

Type

abstract

Language

English

Original Abstract

The granulometric composition of soil, or soil texture as it’s also known, is one of the basic The granulometric composition of soil, or soil texture as it’s also known, is one of the basic characteristics ascertained when determining particle size distribution (PSD). Over recent decades, there has been an increasing effort to replace traditional methods for determining granular composition, such as sedimentation or pre-sieving, with the laser diffraction method (LDF), primarily due to their time-consuming nature. When using LDF equipment, however, PSD results often vary, depending on the type of device used, its manufacturer and development and the software applied. Our goal was to assess soil grain size composition at two windbreaks with adjacent arable land using the two most commonly used LDF analysers, the Mastersizer 3000 and Analysette 22 (Bieganowski 2018), and to compare the results. In each case, we used the same protocol and device set up. Soil samples were taken at a depth of 0–10 and 10–20 cm along transects running perpendicular to the axis of the windbreak, with an overlap into the adjacent agricultural land, during spring 2022, when the arable land was unprotected by crop cover. While the trend in grain size curves remained very similar, we recorded significant differences in PSD between the analysers, with grain size fractions mainly classified as “sandy loam” with the Mastersizer 3000 and mainly as “silt loam” with the Analysette 22. Consequently, future studies should ensure that they provide detailed information on the LDF device used and its settings, allowing clarification of any under- or overestimation of individual fractions (e.g. clay, silt, sand), and thus get as close to true values as possible.

Keywords

Soil; soil texture; particle size distribution; laser diffrection method

Authors

TOMÁŠOVÁ, G.; PASEKA, S.

Released

6. 2. 2024

Publisher

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Location

Praha

ISBN

978-80-213-3355-0

Book

6th International Symposium of Soil Physics

Edition number

1

Pages from

46

Pages to

46

Pages count

55

URL

BibTex

@misc{BUT188176,
  author="Gabriela {Tomášová} and Stanislav {Paseka}",
  title="Inter-instrument comparison of diffraction analysers for the determination of soil grain size fractions",
  booktitle="6th International Symposium of Soil Physics
",
  year="2024",
  edition="1",
  pages="46--46",
  publisher="Czech University of Life Sciences Prague",
  address="Praha",
  isbn="978-80-213-3355-0",
  url="https://czuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/6th-ISSP-Book-of-Abstracts_Final_complet_web.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3UemMD0ktTyPYWqKuVIXRt2qBoPHPTncBhVUJ6ibP5vKfPq1u_Cl2_Ud0",
  note="abstract"
}