The visible (Vis) and infrared (IR) part of the electromagnetic spectrum reflected from a soil sample contains a wealth of information on the chemical and mineralogical composition. In recent years, Vis-IR-spectroscopy has been used to analyze a variety of soil properties. For example, it has been applied to predict macro- and micro-nutrients, hydrocarbon and metal concentrations in contaminated soils, biological properties of composts and organic matter, to identify clay minerals, to quantify organic carbon and to estimate aggregate stability of a soil material. Another important development in Vis-IR-spectroscopy is the implementation of advanced data analysis techniques to improve the accuracy of the predictions. Improving spectrometers to measure the reflectance of undisturbed soil samples in the lab or even in situ with mobile and non-mobile instrumentations has also been addressed.
We invite contributions from all applications of reflectance spectroscopy in soil science - in the wavelength range from the visible to the mid infrared and using bidirectional, diffuse and Fourier-transformed spectroscopy and imaging spectrometers. Contributions focused on fundamental soil spectroscopy, chemometrics, data mining, applications in agriculture, soil mapping and monitoring, and others are encouraged. We also invite field- and lab-based applications, applied and theoretical studies covering soil physical, biological and chemical properties and contributions covering the connection of reflectance spectroscopy with other spectroscopic techniques.