Disclosed are sensors and related methods for measuring enzyme activity in a measurement environment and for quantifying enzyme and/or microbe concentrations in the measurement environment. An enzyme activity sensor includes a degradable conductive trace and a biodegradable target configured to enable the conductive trace, in an initial state, to conduct electrical current between first and second terminal ends via conductive particles. The conductive trace is configured to degrade over time as a result of enzymatic activity that degrades the biodegradable target when the sensor is placed in a measurement environment, the enzymatic activity thereby increasing resistance between the first and second terminal ends

A system for analyzing a volatile component in extraterrestrial soil through penetration heating induction includes the following: a penetration heater, provided therein with a volatile component measurement and analysis module configured to analyze a volatile component in a detected medium; a gas capture hole, provided on a side wall of the penetration heater and used to divert the volatile component in the detected medium to the volatile component measurement and analysis module; a temperature acquisition module, disposed on the penetration heater and configured to acquire a temperature of the detected medium; and a heating module, disposed on the penetration heater and configured to acquire the temperature of the detected medium. The system has a compact structure, a simple function, and low engineering costs, and can directly detect and analyze a volatile component in deep extraterrestrial soil.

A system and method for evaluating soil characteristics. The system and method includes providing one or more soil test kits to a user. The soil tests kits may include ion-exchange resins and may instruct the user to collect a soil sample from his/her growing area, to combine the soil sample with the ion-exchange resins, and to provide the combination to the system for analysis. Other test kits may not include ion-exchange resins and may instruct the user to provide a soil sample from his/her growing area to the system for analysis. The system evaluates the ion-exchange resins and/or the soil samples to identify nutrient levels, pH levels, and other characteristics of the soil. Using the evaluation results, the system provides feedback, recommendations and/or products to the user to improve the soil conditions and to ensure a successful crop, yield, quality, and nutrient density. The system and method also may include providing a second soil test kit to the user at a predetermined time after the first, to evaluate a second soil sample, and to compare the second evaluation results with the first to assess the improvement of the soil conditions.

The present disclosure discloses a method for assessing soil health of cultivated land, which adopts “three sets of dual index assessment systems”, that is an index system for current soil function and a healthy soil function required by crops, an index system for current soil nutrition and healthy soil nutrition required by crops, and an index system for current crop output of cultivated land and a crop output expected by cultivated land users or owners. The method solves the shortcomings of the existing assessment systems that the existing soil health assessment index system has no hierarchy and applicability. This method includes using deviating degree of ratio R e.g., the index current value C/index health value E of measured dual index from 1 as well as it is simple, and the assessment result may directly determine the indicators or factors that can be used for guiding soil improvement and conservation.

A system and method for evaluating soil characteristics. The system and method includes providing one or more soil test kits to a user. The soil tests kits may include ion-exchange resins and may instruct the user to collect a soil sample from his/her growing area, to combine the soil sample with the ion-exchange resins, and to provide the combination to the system for analysis. Other test kits may not include ion-exchange resins and may instruct the user to provide a soil sample from his/her growing area to the system for analysis. The system evaluates the ion-exchange resins and/or the soil samples to identify nutrient levels, pH levels, and other characteristics of the soil. Using the evaluation results, the system provides feedback, recommendations and/or products to the user to improve the soil conditions and to ensure a successful crop, yield, quality, and nutrient density. The system and method also may include providing a second soil test kit to the user at a predetermined time after the first, to evaluate a second soil sample, and to compare the second evaluation results with the first to assess the improvement of the soil conditions.

A method of treating a heavy metal contaminated soil including contacting the contaminated soil with a bioremediation mixture for a predetermined time such that the contaminated soil is anaerobically digested, wherein the contaminated soil contains one or more heavy metals, and wherein the anaerobically digested soil contains a lesser amount of the one or more heavy metals than the contaminated soil.

A method of indicating a characteristic of a soil sample of a field includes measuring a co-factor in the soil sample and using the co-factor to place the soil sample in a soil sample group. The characteristic of the soil sample is measured and then is scaled based on the soil sample group. The scaled measure is displayed to better represent the characteristic of the soil sample relative to soil samples of the sample group.

Disclosed are methods of measuring the quantity of active organic matter in a soil sample, as well as kits for performing such measurements.

In various embodiments, an analytics system determines nucleic acid sequence reads of genetic material in a soil sample from a geographical location. The analytics system determines a first set of measures of a plurality of gene functions represented in the nucleic acid sequence reads. The analytics system determines a second set of measures of a plurality of metabolic pathways of microorganisms present in soil at the geographical location. The analytics system determines a third set of measures of a plurality of soil health indicators of the soil at the geographical location, the plurality of soil health indicators including a plurality of levels of granularity. The analytics system determines a measure of an agronomic attribute of the soil at the geographical location as a function of the first, second, and third sets of measures.

An analytics system uses soil health indicators to determine metrics for soil samples. In an embodiment, the analytics system receives metadata describing a soil sample, where the metadata indicates one or more types of crops grown in a geographical location having the soil sample. The analytics system determines nucleic acid sequence reads of the soil sample. The analytics system determines taxonomic information of the nucleic acid sequence reads. The analytics system determines microbial composition of the soil sample using the taxonomic information. The analytics system determines reference metrics of soil samples from geographical locations in which the one or more types of crop were grown. The analytics system determines a metric of the soil sample using the microbial composition and the reference metrics. The analytics system transmits the metric to a client device.