Spatial Variability of Soil Properties and Portable X-Ray Fluorescence-quantified Elements of typical Golf Courses Soils

Abstract

Understanding and quantitative delineation of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF)-quantified elements and soil properties spatial variability are important for healthy turf development for golf courses. In this study, PXRF-quantified elements and soil properties (except soil acidity and alkalinity (pH), electric conductivity (EC), and textures) of 200 soil samples were measured by PXRF analyzer at different golf courses in Lubbock, Amarillo, and Midland in Texas, and Hobbs in New Mexico. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA), empirical bayesian kriging (EBK) and the ordinary least square model (OLSM) were used in the study. Two kinds of components were extracted and interpreted by PCA, the results showed Zn, Ti, Fe, Rb, V, Mn and Zr were associated with the component 1, while Sr was associated with the component 2, the preliminary classification of PXRF-quantified elements was formed by PCA. The EBK approach was used to evaluate the spatial patterns of PXRFquantified elements and soil properties. The OLSM model quantitatively related pH to EC, silt texture and the PXRF-quantified K, Ca and Sr. The integration of PCA, EBK and OLSM revealed quantitative links between soil pedogenesis and causes, spatial variability and couple relationships of PXRFquantified elements and soil properties over golf courses. Currently, proximal soil sensing presents the characteristics of interdisciplinary with pedometrics, pedology and morphology. Proximal and remote sensing, along with miniaturized sensor technology, have advanced the useful non-destructive monitoring technologies for rapidly quantifying heavy metal concentrations. The Portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry is a proximal scanning technology and has a long history of being used in characterizing the elemental compositions in many matrices 1,2. The PXRF technology can be implemented in soil geochemical analysis for fast and efficient testing of heavy metals 3 , and used to answer the questions of direct soil provenance based on the understanding that both soil pedogenesis with climate, parent material, topography and other factors 4. Applications of PXRF included environmental assessment and identification of heavy metal concentrations of soils, compost, or solid waste 5-7. PXRF applications to pedology were rapidly increasing given the relative ease of data acquisition 8. The PXRF's ability to predict soil textural attributes was demonstrated, which is of interest in texture related to mineral composition 7. PXRF was valid as well to rapidly screen Cr and Ni levels in serpentine soils 3. Laiho and Perämäki (2005) found that soil moisture and particle size were the main factors influencing on PXRF measurement accuracy from contaminated site soils 9. The response of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) intensity to soil moisture content depended on soil texture and mineralogy 10 , however, it is generally stable in measuring soil elements when moisture content is <15% 8,11. Over the past 10 years, PXRF has been much more used in soil science. Among many contempora...

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