Precision Soil Carbon Measurement - A Breakthrough at the USDA ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory

The importance of accurately measuring soil carbon cannot be overstated. Soil carbon sequestration is a critical process for mitigating climate change, enhancing soil fertility, and improving agricultural productivity.

The traditional method of measuring soil carbon is point sampling, which involves taking soil samples from various locations, analysing them in a lab, and using the results to estimate soil carbon content over a large area. This is costly, labour-intensive, and time-consuming. Because the carbon content across farm fields can vary greatly, using these tiny point samples has a huge implication on the accuracy of the final result.? Similarly, single point probes using infrared or other technologies eliminate the laboratory process but not the uncertainty, and still need to be calibrated to specific field conditions using laboratory processed samples.

With Carbon Credit markets now demanding a higher level of precision, integrity and trust, a new measurement procedure is urgently required.

This solution now exists and is beginning to transform agriculture into a global climate solution.

Congratulations to the USDA ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory

Located in Auburn Alabama USA, a team of top physicists and soil scientists at the USDA ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory has been developing a breakthrough precision soil carbon measurement technology, known as MINS for over a decade.

The MINS technology measures, maps and calculates the carbon density across an entire area with a level of certainty of 95%, an unprecedented degree of precision and accuracy.? It produces the result instantly and at a fraction of the cost of core sampling methods. Instead of point sampling, MINS measures a continuous path 1.5m wide x 30 cm deep as it travels across the field. Millions of times the volume of data is collected compared with point sampling.

In 2020 a technology commercialisation agreement was entered into by the USDA, Auburn University and Carbon Asset Solutions (CAS), a company focused on technology based climate solutions.? CAS then worked with USDA under a Cooperative Research Development Agreement to refine the MINS technology which CAS integrated into a secure data management system, a blockchain based Registry, and a digital audit verification system.

The result is the world’s most advanced digital Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system for soil based Carbon Credit supply.?

In June 2023 the CAS Soil Carbon Methodology incorporating the MINS technology became a new ISO based global standard and methodology. ??

Last month the groundbreaking work of the USDA research team was recognized when USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small presented Dr. H. Allen Torbert, the Research Leader of USDA-ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, with a 2024 USDA Honor Award in Washington DC.

This annual ceremony recognizes the most significant accomplishments in support of USDA’s mission, strategic goals, objectives, and priorities. The Secretary’s Honor Award is the highest non-monetary form of recognition at the Department of Agriculture.

Daniel Donner, Director of CAS in North America said, “I have contributed to technology transfer projects for much of my career, but the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between CAS and NSDL has been the most impactful and successful by far. The technology needed the knowledge and experience of both nuclear physics and soil science. NSDL is the only facility in the world where dedicated scientists from both disciplines are fully available for this work. We are so grateful to see that the Secretary took the time out of his busy agenda to recognize the potential impact of the contribution of this team.”

“We’re now able to economically measure soil carbon density in all soil conditions accurately enough to recognize soil carbon sequestration rates over relatively short periods..”

CAS is excited about the next chapter of the MINS technology development, soon to be expanded on at our “Soil Carbon Measurement Accuracy Event” on June 27th in Auburn, Alabama.

Rob Woodward, Director of CAS, added, “We are excited to have Dr. Rattan Lal, an absolute icon in the world of regenerative agriculture and soil carbon sequestration, join us for the event and share his views on the potential for agriculture to have a positive effect on climate.”

Congratulations to the team at NSDL: Dr Torbert, Dr Yakubova, Dr Kavetskiy, and Dr Prior.