Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark's second oldest university, have, for the first time ever, used "visible spectroscopy" (the measurement of how much a beam of light weakens after it passes through a sample) to predict the transport of dissolved chemicals, like pesticides, through intact soil.

What they found was that a soil's ability to carry chemicals depends on the soil's texture and structure. The research team used several of large soil columns that represented six different climates of Denmark, in order to postulate what the university's news post refers to as a "breakthrough curve;" which is essentially a calculation on the difference in appearance of a solute after it travels through soil.

Professor Lis Wollesen de Jonge, one of the specialists on the team and co-author of their article in Nature's Scientific Reports, is quoted in the university's news post as having said, "Our findings can pave the way for next-generation measurements and monitoring of dissolved chemical transport by spectroscopy."

The reason a study of this manner can be important is because it formulates additional information regarding how groundwater tables become contaminated via the use of landscape and agricultural pesticides, insecticides and herbicides.