Carbon Assessment in Organic Cropland Soil Using Spectroradiometry
Organic matter, Composting, Spectrometry, Reference curve.
With the increase in greenhouse gas emissions following the industrial revolution, global warming has become a worldwide concern. The establishment of the carbon market under the Kyoto Protocol has heightened interest in carbon as one of the major contributors to this effect. Understanding carbon in soil, a key natural reservoir, particularly through organic matter, is essential. However, conventional assessment methods involve high costs and generate chemical waste. Thus, new approaches like spectroradiometry, which offers instant responses and utilizes remote sensing data without producing waste, are needed. This study aims to determine soil carbon content using spectroradiometry based on known quantities of carbon and the time required for organic matter to stabilize into humus. The experiment on organic matter stabilization will be conducted at SIPA- Fazendinha Agrobiológica. Gliricidia biomass will be turned every 15 days until complete stabilization over 120 days, with samples collected at each turning for chemical analysis of N, C, Mg, Ca, K, and P to characterize composting. Subsequently, spectrometry analyses will be performed on the organic matter to create reference curves for carbon responses. Additionally, the organic matter will be mixed with known quantities of washed sand to obtain another reference curve. Once the reference curves are generated for both sample sets, validation will be conducted in the soil to assess their accuracy.