Use of Chroma Meter color measurements to evaluate the organic carbon, iron, and water content of soils

Abstract

The soil color components of 127 samples from five Arizona Agricultural Research Centers and 52 WEPP samples occurring in various parts of the U.S.A. were evaluated using a Minolta Chroma Meter. This instrument is designed to minimize the variability in color determination utilizing a built-in light source to generate a primary source of radiation. Simple and multiple linear regression equations relating Hue, Value, and Chroma color components were obtained to predict the organic carbon and iron content of these soils. The results show that using global data is less reliable than specific groupings of soils. Moist value and moist chroma moist are the two most important color components in estimating the organic carbon content of soils. Chroma and Hue were highly correlated to iron at all moisture levels. Chroma was least affected by soil moisture, but Value and Hue consistently decreased for all soils.