Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) applications in tropical Soil Science

• Autor(a) principal: Ribeiro, Bruno Teixeira
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Silva, Sérgio Henrique Godinho, Silva, Elen Alvarenga, Guilherme, Luiz Roberto Guimarães
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFLA
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/29357
• topic: Análise do solo; Morfometria do solo; Caracterização do solo; Fluorescência de raios-X; Soil analyses; Soil morphometrics; Soil characterization; X-ray fluorescence

The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an analytical technique for determination of elemental composition of different materials. In soils, the XRF has many pedological, environmental and agronomic applications, mainly after the emergence of portable equipments (pXRF). This technique has been recently adopted and successfully used for soil characterization worldwide, but very rare works have been carried out in soils of developing countries. The soil characterization includes the complete elemental composition determination (nutrients, trace and rare-earth elements) and allows estimating some soil physical and chemical properties. In Brazil, this technique is still incipient, mainly the use of pXRF, however, it can greatly contribute to soil characterization in-field or in-lab conditions and also replacing methods of soil analyses considered non-environmentally friendly. This review summarizes the XRF technique including principles and the main applications of pXRF in soils highlighting its potential for tropical Soil Science.