SOM underlies many soil functions and processes, but its characterization by FTIR spectroscopy is often challenged by mineral interferences. The described method can increase the utility of SOM analysis by FTIR spectroscopy by subtracting mineral interferences in soil spectra using empirically obtained mineral reference spectra.
Margenot, A. J., Parikh, S. J., Calderón, F. J. Improving Infrared Spectroscopy Characterization of Soil Organic Matter with Spectral Subtractions. J. Vis. Exp. (143), e57464, doi:10.3791/57464 (2019).