There are physical, physico-chemical and chemical parameters which can be used as a basis for the characterisations of soils. Some of these characterisation methods are slow, laborious and show very empiric character. Near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopic methods were used for substitution of conventional soil analysis procedures. Seven different soil characteristics (humus, calcium carbonate, total nitrogen, dead water content, yarn test by Arany, mechanical composition, hygroscopic water content) were measured by NIR using Hungarian and ISO standards as reference methods. It was concluded that the humus content, which measures the total organic content of soil can be predicted from NIR spectra with good accuracy (SEP = 0.3%). There are two parameters (mechanical composition and hygroscopicity) which showed significant correlation with the changes in the status of water in soil and they were detectable with acceptable accuracy based on their NIR spectra. The other four parameters were not predictable either due to the lack of spectroscopic information or to the poor quality of reference methods. The developed method was very sensitive to the physical status of samples and an accurate standard sample preparation was needed. Spectral libraries were developed and validated for a quick and non-destructive qualification and selection of soil samples.