Near infrared spectroscopy of soils

In soil science, structural features of soils are an important attribute; soils can be characterised by proportional size distribution of aggregates and the pore space between and within those aggregates. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the visible and near infrared (Vis–NIR) spectra and microaggregates from a collection of Ferralsols. Our dataset consists of 56 spectra from seven soil profiles of kaolinitic and oxidic-gibbsitic Ferralsols. Soils were characterised according to their morphological features: those with a typical porous massive structure and those with a cohesive massive structure. Size distribution of five classes of microaggregate was determined (1000–2000 µm, 500–1000 µm, 250–500 µm, 105–250 µm and