Capability and Limitations of Clay Minerals Estimation in Surface Soils of the Isfahan Province by Vis-NIR Spectroscopy

Clay minerals constitute a fundamental fraction of soils and their quantitative information is important in soil management. Therefore, the objectives of this research were to evaluate the ability of vis-NIR spectroscopy to quantify the dominant clay minerals of soils and to determine the limitations of this approach. One hundred surface soil samples were collected from the Isfahan province. Semi-quantitative mineralogical analyses were performed by XRD. Soil spectral analyses were carried out by a field spectrometer using 350-2500 nm wavelength range. Partial least squares regression and continuum-removed spectra were used for modeling. Modeling by continuum-removed spectra could not precisely predict dominant clay minerals. Clay minerals estimation by partial least square regression was more accurate than continuum-removed spectra. It appears that mixing the clay fraction with each mineral (palygorskite, smectite and illite) significantly influences the special absorption features of mineral and makes it difficult to estimate clay minerals accurately. In arid and semi-arid regions, mineralogical diversity is high and the presence of gypsum and carbonates increases the complexity of the soil system. Therefore, information from spectra is difficult to obtain and clay minerals could not be accurately estimated.