Assessment of clay and humus content in soils using the dielectric method

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Abstract

The paper presents the results of measuring the content of clay, humus, and complex permittivity of 23 soil samples in the frequency range from 10 kHz to 8–10 GHz at different moisture. The content of clay (particles smaller than 0.01 mm) in the samples varied from 1.7 to 47.5%, the humus content – from 0.7 to 8%. The processes of dielectric relaxation were studied, correlations between the process parameters and the clay content were found. To estimate the clay content, the intensity of the low-frequency relaxation process and the complex permittivity at a frequency of 100 kHz, measured in a state close to complete capillary saturation, were used. The square of the correlation coefficient of the found average values with those measured by the sedimentation method was 0.89, the average deviation was – 14% with a maximum deviation of 50–60% for two soil samples. In order to estimate the humus content, the values of clay and the maximum amount of bound water found by the dielectric method were used. The maximum amount of bound water was determined by modeling the dielectric spectra using the relaxation-refraction model as the average of the values found at different moisture of the soil samples. The square of the correlation coefficient of the found values with those measured by the Walkley–Black acid digestion method was 0.72, the average deviation was 28% with a maximum deviation of 200% for one soil sample. The reasons for the high errors were discussed.

About the authors

P. P. Bobrov

Omsk State Pedagogical University

Author for correspondence.
Email: bobrov@omgpu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9744-8255
Russian Federation, Omsk, 644099

T. A. Belyaeva

Omsk State Pedagogical University

Email: bobrov@omgpu.ru
Russian Federation, Omsk, 644099

E. S. Kroshka

Omsk State Pedagogical University

Email: bobrov@omgpu.ru
Russian Federation, Omsk, 644099

O. V. Rodionova

Omsk State Pedagogical University

Email: bobrov@omgpu.ru
Russian Federation, Omsk, 644099

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Illustration of the application of model (1) for the KDP of soil 18 at a moisture content of 0.208 m3/m3. 1–3 contributions of relaxation processes 1–3; 4 – contribution of the refractive part of the model; 5 – calculation according to the full model, including the influence of the UEP; 6 – experimental data.

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3. Fig. 2. Frequency dependence of the actual CDP of soils at close moisture values. 1 – soil 1; 2 – soil 7; 3 – soil 23; 4 – soil 21. Moisture, m3/m3: 1 – 0.163; 2 – 0.157; 3 – 0.154; 4 – 0.162. Density, g/cm3: 1 – 1.55; 2 – 1.16; 3 × 1.30; 4 – 0.97

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4. Fig. 3. Parameters of relaxation processes depending on humidity. 1 – soil 19; 2 – soil 7; 3 – soil 3.

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5. Fig. 4. Results of clay content estimation calculated by equation (3) (a) and by equation (4) (b). Dashed line is regression line, solid line is the line of equality of values.

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6. Fig. 5. Results of humus content assessment calculated using the maximum amount of bound water. The dashed line is the regression line, the solid line is the line of equality of values.

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7. Supplementary Material
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8. Fig. S1. Frequency dependence of the real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of the soil KDP No. 2. Solid lines – calculation by the model. Humidity, m3 /m3 : 1 – 0.087; 2 – 0.162; 3 - 0.228; 4 – 0.30. Density, g/cm3 : 1 – 1.64; 2 – 1.75; 3 – 1.80; 4 – 1.84.

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9. Fig. S2. Frequency dependence of the real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of the soil CDP No. 7. Solid lines – calculation by the model. Humidity, m3 /m3 : 1 – 0.074; 2 – 0.142; 3 – 0.229; 4 – 0.353; 5 – 0.440. Density, g/cm3 : 1 – 1.19; 2 – 1.22; 3 – 1.35; 4 – 1.40; 5 – 1.33.

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10. Fig. S3. Frequency dependence of the real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of the soil CDP No. 15. Solid lines – calculation by the model. Humidity, m3 /m3 : 1 – 0.082; 2 – 0.167; 3 – 0.269; 4 – 0.392; 5 – 0.440. Density, g/cm3 : 1 – 1.12; 2 – 1.11; 3 – 1.19; 4 – 1.30; 5 – 1.11.

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11. Fig. S4. Frequency dependence of the real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of the soil CDP No. 23. Solid lines – calculation by the model. Humidity, m3 /m3 : 1 – 0.098; 2 – 0.154; 3 – 0.233; 4 – 0.323; 5 – 0.417. Density, g/cm3 : 1 – 1.30; 2 – 1.30; 3 – 1.42; 4 – 1.53; 5 – 1.53.

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12. Fig. S5. Relationship between the parameters of relaxation processes at humidity close to full capillary saturation and the content of physical clay.

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