Analysis of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in soil using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is used to determine the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in soil. Quantitative determinations are conducted using the line intensity of the analyte element and element concentration. Calibration models are obtained using ten samples for TN and seven samples for TP. The rest samples are used to validate the results. Strong linear correlations are obtained from the determined TN and TP concentrations. LIBS is a powerful tool for analyzing soil samples to determine nutrient elements by selecting calibration and validation samples with similar matrix composition.