Veris helps Denmark go Green!

For years, Denmark has been going green, and not just in their environmental endeavors. They’re even painting their Veris green! For the past three years, Maria Knadel in the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University has been using the Veris Vis-NIR spectrophotometer to help measure the amount of carbon in agricultural soils. Using the Vis-NIR in a P4000 probe and MSP shank unit, they are characterizing and mapping Danish agriculture soils. Denmark is employing Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. This includes agriculture and forestry in carbon stock changes. Maria mentions, “In order to monitor changes in soil organic carbon pools, intensive and reliable mapping is required.”

Maria and the Department of Agroecology have used the Veris Vis-NIR to create soil maps of 6 fields and have also measured 200 samples in the laboratory. By utilizing sensor fusion, the Veris equipment has shown good results of soil organic carbon (SOC) mapping. Maria states that the, “Mobile Vis-NIR measurements captured more of the spatial variation in SOC compared to conventional soil sampling.” She reports her findings in Knadel, M., Thomsen, A. and Greve, M.H., 2011. Multisensor On-The-Go Mapping of Soil Organic Carbon Content. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 75(5): 1799-1806.

By using her green Veris Vis-NIR system, Maria is an important part of Denmark’s initiative to help keep the planet healthy and green.

Originally Published January 24, 2012.