THE APPLICATION OF THE LASER DIFFRACTION TO DETERMINE SOIL TEXTURE AND INFLUENCE ON SOIL TEXTURE CLASSIFICATION

Abstract

One of the most important properties of soils is soil texture. Soil texture is defined as a collection of soil particles of different sizes � i.e. grain size. Particle analysis is a laboratory process that causes material dislocation into individual particles. The methods for the actual soil grain size analyses are based on the standard. This is the sieving test, the density test or the pipetting method. These methods are well known and widely used. The soil is then usually classified according to the triangular diagram. Recently, the laser diffraction method (LDM) is beginning to appear. However, this method is still not established as a standard methodology in the European Union. It has the advantage of simplicity, speed and accuracy of particle size measurement. The aim of the paper was (I) to compare the results from laser diffraction measurements with the results from an accredited laboratory and (II) to analyze the influence of different methods on soil texture classification. The methods used were laser diffraction using ultrasound and without and the commonly used pipetting method in an accredited laboratory. The paper confirmed the possibility of using laser diffraction to determine the grain size of the soil sample. The comparison of the results showed whether the laser diffraction is comparable with the common and standardly used method and what is the impact on the determination of the soil texture.