AFFILIATION :Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) - Brazil
THEME :SpecSoil: the new analytical technology in soil analysis.
SUMMARY The near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIR, 700-2500 nm) or NIR associated with the visible region (Vis/NIR, 400-780 nm) is considered the most promising analytical technique to replace current routine analysis of soil fertility due to the numerous advantages of this technique over the traditional ones: it is cheaper, faster, non-destructive and "clean". To enable the application of the NIR for soil testing, a calibration work must be performed and it requires the creation of a robust and representative Soil Spectral Library and the application of chemo metric techniques. In order to implement the NIR as a routine method, a new instrument capable to analyze 4,000 soil samples per day was developed, optimizing the process for the creation of the spectral library and increasing the analytical capacity in large-scale routines. The instrument is called SpecSoil-Scan, operates in the spectral range of 2500-400 nm and is equipped with an autosampler with capacity for 40 samples at a time. SpecSoil technology was calibrated making use of a spectral library built with more than 120,000 representative soil samples analyzed both by NIRS and the standard analytical methods. SpecSolo was pioneer being technically validated by Inmetro (Brazilian National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology) for analyses of Organic Matter and Texture (clay, silt and sand) of the soil in an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. BIOGRAPHY

André Marcelo de Souza completed his undergraduate study in Chemistry at UNICAMP (2005), Master's degree in Analytical Chemistry at USP (2010) and PhD in Analytical Chemistry also at UNICAMP (2014). He is a scientist from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), a public institution whose mission is to create solutions, research, development, and innovation for sustainable agriculture to benefit Brazilian society. He has led several research projects in the field of Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometrics applied to the development of new methodologies and analytical solutions for soil fertility analysis. He has published several papers in this field and serves as a referee for several reputable journals.