Soil Processing
Nitric Acid Digestion
U.S. EPA. 2007. Method 3051A (SW-846): Microwave assisted acid digestion of sediments in sludges, soils, and oils. Revision 1.
Mehlich III Extraction
Mehlich, A. 1978. New extractant for soil test evaluation of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, manganese, and zinc. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 9(6):477-492.
Mehlich, A. 1984. Mehlich-3 soil test extractant: a modification of Mehlich-2 extractant. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 15(12):1409-1416.
Hanlon, E.A., and G.V. Johnson. 1984. Bray/Kurtz, Mehlich 3, AB/DTPA, and ammonium acetate extraction of P, K, and Me in four Oklahoma soils. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 15(3):277-294.
Physical Measurements
Bulk Density
Field Method
Dane, J.H., C.G. Clarke (eds.). 2002. Chapter 2.1 Bulk Density and Linear Extensibility. Methods for Soil Analysis: Part4-Physical Methods. Soil Science Society of America Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Saran Method
Brasher, B. R., D. P. Franzmeier, V. T. Vallassis, and S. E. Davidson. 1966. Use of Saran resin to coat natural soil clods for bulk density and water retention measurements. Soil. Sci. 101:108.
Gypsum Determination
Soil Survey Staff. 1972, Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 1 USDA, SCS, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Particle Size
Kilmer, V. H., and L. Z. Alexander. 1949. Methods for making mechanical analyses of soil. Soil Sci. 68:15-24.
Steele, J. G. and R. Bradfield. 1934. The significance of size distribution in the clay fraction. Report of the 14th Annual Meeting, Am. Soil Science. Assn., Bull. 15:88-93
Water Content
Dane, J.H., C.G. Clarke (eds.). 2002. Chapter 3.1 Water Content. Methods for Soil Analysis: Part4-Physical Methods. Soil Science Society of America Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
SLAKES
Flynn, K.D., D.K. Bagnall, C.L.S. Morgan. 2020. Evaluation of SLAKES, a smartphone application for quantifying aggregate stability, in high-clay soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 84:345–353.
Chemical Measurements
Ammonium Oxalate Extraction
Soil Survey Staff. 1972, Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 1 USDA, SCS, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Calcium Carbonate Equivalent
Dremanis, A. 1962. Quantitative gasometric determination of calcite and dolomite by using Chittick apparatus. J. Sedimentary Petrology. 32:520-529
Cation Exchange Capacity
Soil Survey Staff. 1996. Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 42, USDA, SCS. U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Holmgren, G. S., R. L. Juve, and R. C. Geschwender. 1977. A mechanically controlled variable rate leaching device. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 41:1207-120
Total Carbon and Nitrogen
McGeehan, S.L. and D.V. Naylor. 1988. Automated instrumental analysis of carbon and nitrogen in plant and soil samples. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 19:493.
Inorganic Carbon
Sparks, D.L. (ed.). 1996. Chapter 15: Carbonate and Gypsum. Methods for Soil Analysis: Part 3-Chemical Methods. Soil Science Society of America Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Permanganate Oxidizable Carbon
Weil, R.R., K.R. Islam, M.A. Stine, J.B. Gruver, S.E. Samson-Liebig. 2003. Estimating active carbon for soil quality assessment: A simplified method for laboratory and field use. American J. of Alt. Ag., 18:1, 3–17.
Inorganic Nitrogen
Verdouw, H., C.J.A., Van Echteldt, E.M.J. Dekkers. 1978. Ammonium determination based on indophenol formation with sodium salicylate. Water Research. 12:6, 399-402.
Doane, T.A, W. R. Horwáth. 2003. Spectrophotometric Determination of Nitrate with a Single Reagent, Analytical Letters, 36:12, 2713-2722
ICP-OES Analysis
Franson, M.A.H. (ed.). 1989. 3120 METALS BY PLASMA EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
Havlin, J.L. and P.N. Soltanpour. 1989. A nitric acid and plant digest method for use with inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 14:969-980.
U.S. EPA. 2007. Method 3051A (SW-846): Microwave assisted acid digestion of sediments in sludges, soils, and oils. Revision 1.
Exchangeable Aluminum
Sparks, D.L. (ed.). 1996. Chapter 18: Aluminum. Methods for Soil Analysis: Part 3-Chemical Methods. Soil Science Society of America Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Extractable Bases
Holmgren, G. S., R. L Juve, and R. C. Geschwender. 1997. A mechanically controlled variable rate leaching device. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 1. 41:1207-1208.
Soil Survey Staff. 1996, Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 42 USDA, SCS, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Free Iron Oxide
Soil Survey Staff. 1972, Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 1 USDA, SCS, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
CO2 Burst
McGowen, E.B., S. Sharma, S. Deng, H. Zhang, J.G. Warrne. 2018. An Automated Laboratory Method for Measuring CO2 Emissions from Soils. Agric. Environ. Lett. 3:180008.
Greenhouse Gasses
Gamble, A.V., J.A. Howe, K. B. Balkcom, C.W. Wood, N. Dilorenzo, D. B. Watts, E. van Santen. 2019. Soil Organic Carbon Storage and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a Grazed Perennial Forage–Crop Rotation System. Agroecosystems. 2:180040.
pH
Soil Survey Laboratory Staff. 1996. Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigation Report No. 42. USDA, NRCS, Lincoln, NE. p671.
Electrical Conductivity
Richards, L.A. (ed.). Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. Handbook 60. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
Soil Survey Staff. 1972, Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 1 USDA, SCS, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Water Soluble Cations
Richards, L.A. (ed.). Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. Handbook 60. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
Soil Survey Staff. 1972, Soil survey laboratory methods and procedures for collecting soil samples. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 1 USDA, SCS, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.