Classification of soil samples according to their geographic origin using gamma-ray spectrometry and principal component analysis

Abstract

A principal component analysis (PCA) was used for classification of soil samples from different locations in Serbia and Montenegro. Based on activities of radionuclides (Ra-226, U-238, U-235, K-40, Cs-134, Cs-131, Th-232 and Be-7) detected by gamma-ray spectrometry, the classification of soils according to their geographical origin was performed. Application of PCA to our experimental data resulted in satisfactory classification rate (86.0% correctly classified samples). The obtained results indicate that gamma-ray spectrometry in conjunction with PCA is a viable tool for soil classification.