BIOGRAPHIES

Dr Maria Knadel is an Assistant Professor in soil sensing techniques at the Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University in Denmark. She works in Soil Physics and Hydropedology  and is responsible for research activities, studentsupervision and teaching in the field of soil spectroscopy - Soil spectroscopy (au.dk). In her research, Dr Knadel adapts a range of spectroscopic methods including near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopy, and Laser Induced breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to basic and functional soil properties’ estimation. She is involved in several international and national projects employing the application of spectroscopy to soil and is a member of global initiatives including IUSS working group on proximal soil sensing, GLOSOLAN soil spectroscopy group and the global soil spectral library. 

Dr Nicolai Bork has a M.Sc. from University of Copenhagen and a Ph.D. from the Technical University of Denmark within analytical chemistry. Presently, Dr Bork is coordinating the soil analytics projects in Foss Analytical, a company with 60 years history developing and marketing analytical solutions for a range of industries related to food and agriculture. Several projects are focused on near infrared soil spectroscopy where the ease-of-use and robustness of the Foss instrument portfolio is paired with the diverse requirements from industry and academia.  

SUMMARY

The application of spectroscopy (NIR, MIR, and LIBS) to soil analysis is one of the research areas of Soil Physics and Hydropedology, Dept. of Agroecology, Aarhus University. The use of NIRS was initiated with a project dedicated to in-situ mapping of agricultural soils using a mobile sensor platform. Shortly after, a need for development of a national soil spectral library was recognised and projects on laboratory-based spectroscopy rolled out. The establishment of today’s NIRS Danish soil library was initiated by a national collaborative project (Soil-Spec) between Aarhus University, an advisory service and FOSS Analytical.  The success of the Soil-Spec project and the generation of the soil spectral library served, and still serves, as a base for further research work at the university and facilitates a solid foundation for ongoing collaboration between the university and the company. During the webinar the activities related to soil spectroscopy in Denmark will be presented from the university and from the private sector perspective including examples of research projects and lab demonstrations. 

Recordings | Presentation Dr Knadel | Presentation Dr Bork | Details of the event