The
aims behind the creation of the SOC App (Soil Organic Carbon) are:
- a) to decrease the miscalculations due to the unfortunate selection of the properties of the soil, the application of the wrong equation and the inappropriate units, in which the results are expressed
- b) to offer the professionals who are not Soil Scientists and students a tool to measure the SOC
- c) to perform rapid field estimations.
App COS beta is a free download from the Play Store
or Google Play (http://www.actswithscience.com/apps/). The
SOC + App includes a simplified formula, in which the soil properties are shown
in the common units in use.
I
will use as example a Gleysol (see profile in Photograph). The soil profile is
working by Hector Tello (INEGI soil division).
I'll
show you how it works the App SOC:
·
Both in SOC BETA and in SOC +, click
first on the App logo (new estimation) and insert the horizon key
·
Subsequently introduce the bulk density
in g mL-1; the horizon thickness in cm; the stone volume or thick
fragments in percentage (0 to 100); and, finally, the soil organic carbon in
fine earth (sieved through a 2 mm mesh) expressed in percentage.
·
Afterwards click in "calculate
horizon" which will be calculated in SOC and expressed in Mg C ha-1.
·
Later, introduce the horizon data. The
total organic carbon in the soil profile appears at the bottom of the screen.
·
Once the total SOC calculations are
completed, it is possible to transform the units if necessary
With
SOC + is possible to estimate the content of the soil organic carbon by using
the functions to estimate the bulk density; images to estimate stoniness or
coarse fragments; and organic carbon with tables.
Besides,
it is possible to obtain graphics from the carbon content throughout the
profile and compare them with organic carbon content of some soil groups
provided by the WRB.
Quick
Calculation
The SOC App carries out accurate
calculation and it shows a rapid performance of all its functions. By
comparison, an experienced technician needs 70 min. to calculate one profile of
five horizons with Excel; however, with SOC+ App the calculations are quickly
finished in only 7 min. Since the work time on the field is expensive, this
difference in minutes is very valuable.
The App is designed with to behave as a field tool, with which
calculations and estimations can be done quickly and reliably.
Table 1.
Functions of the two versions of the App SOC
|
Characteristics
|
SOC BETA
 |
SOC +
 |
|
Simplifying
the equation for calculating soil organic carbon
|
X
|
X
|
|
Unit
conversion using the international system and the English system
|
X
|
X
|
|
Aid for
estimating bulk density
|
|
X
|
|
Aid for
estimating stoniness
|
|
X
|
|
Aid for
estimating organic carbon
|
|
X
|
|
Graph
organic carbon in the soil profile
|
|
X
|
|
Graph
organic carbon in the soil profile compared to other soil groups according to
the WRB
|
|
X
|
