Development of a portable laser-based system for soil analysis

The goal of our project is to develop a portable, laser-based technique for in-situ analysis of
agricultural soils. This work will implement and enhance a technique known as Laser Induced
Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for in-situ measurements of key soil properties, such as
carbon content. LIBS is a minimally invasive detection technique, capable of rapid multielemental
composition analysis with sub parts-per-million sensitivity. LIBS uses an intense
laser pulse to produce a plasma on a material surface, from which the emitted light can be
analyzed to determine elemental composition. Compared to conventional soil analysis
methods, LIBS requires little sample preparation and provides high-speed, waste-free soil
characterization. The proposed project will begin by optimizing LIBS for soil analysis using a
compact and portable laser system and producing an open-source database and calibration
suite of spectroscopic emission from known soil samples. Artificial intelligence techniques will
be applied to establish algorithms for fast and reliable identification of soil composition. This
knowledge will be further applied to develop and test a portable LIBS device that can be
deployed in the field.

Faculty Supervisor:

Amina Hussein

Student:

Partner:

Croptimistic Technology Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Agriculture; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Alberta

Program: