A Novel In-situ Method for Measuring Soil Organic Carbon Using Photoacoustic Sensor

Organic and inorganic elements of soil exhibit a wide range of physical and chemical characteristics. Exact soil composition estimates are required for many ecological and soil science studies and global climate change research. The most typical method for estimating soil variables involves collecting and analyzing data in a laboratory, which is time-consuming and expensive. This paper proposes a rapid, in-situ approach for assessing soil organic carbon utilizing the soil combustion method. In the suggested approach, a metal tube with a heating probe heats the soil to approximately 400°C. The heat oxidizes a known-volume soil sample, creating CO
2
• To estimate soil organic carbon, a CO
2
sensor measures the accumulated CO
2
concentration at the tube's top. A laboratory experiment was undertaken to demonstrate the proposed method's potential.