Machine Learning Allows Calibration Models to Predict Trace Element Concentration in Soils with Generalized LIBS Spectra

Determination of trace elements in soils with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is significantly affected by the matrix effect, due to large variations in chemical composition and physical property of different soils. Spectroscopic data treatment with univariate models often leads to poor analytical performances. We have developed in this work a multivariate model using machine learning algorithms based on a back-propagation neural network (BPNN). Beyond the classical chemometry approach, machine learning, with tremendous progresses the last years especially for image processing, is offering an ensemble of powerful and constantly renewed algorithms and tools efficient for the different steps in the construction of a spectroscopic data treatment model, including feature selection and neural network training. Considering the matrix effect as the focus of this work, we have developed the concept of generalized spectrum, where the information about the soil matrix is explicitly included in the input vector of the model as an additional dimension. After a brief presentation of the experimental procedure and the results of regression with a univariate model, the development of the multivariate model will be described in detail together with its analytical performances, showing average relative errors of calibration (REC) and of prediction (REP) within the range of 5–6%.