What Is Soil Analysis?

Soil analysis is the qualitative and quantitative determination of soil composition and / or physical and chemical properties. It is the basic work for the research on soil development and development, fertility evolution, soil resource evaluation, soil improvement, and reasonable fertilization, and it is also an important method for environmental quality evaluation in environmental science.

Soil is a complex multiphase system composed of solid, liquid and gas three phases. The soil solid phase includes minerals, organic matter, and soil organisms; between the solid phase materials are pores of different shapes and sizes. Moisture and air are present in the pores.

The soil is dominated by solids, and three phases coexist. The relative content of the three-phase material varies depending on the type of soil and environmental conditions. The three-phase matter is interconnected and constrained, and the upper part is connected to the atmosphere and the lower part is connected to groundwater, forming a complete multi-medium multi-interface system.

Soil analysis has a great impact on the development of soil science. As early as the middle of the 19th century, German chemist J.von Liebich applied classical chemical methods to soil and plant analysis. Based on the measured results, he proposed a plant mineral nutrition theory and a return theory, which greatly promoted the development of soil science. For more than 100 years, methods for soil analysis have increased. By the end of the 1950s, many automated and semi-automated analytical instruments have been applied to soil analysis. Various chemical and physical sensors, as well as electronic computers and telemetry devices have also been gradually applied, and soil analysis is entering a new period of development. ^[1]