Comparison between grain-size analyses using laser diffraction and sedimentation methods

A comparison between laser diffraction method (LDM) and the sieve-hydrometer method (SHM) was carried out for 228 soil samples representing a different texture classification sampled in a Sicilian basin. The analysis demonstrated that the sand content measured by SHM can be assumed equal to that determined by LDM technique, while the clay fraction measured by LDM was lower than that measured by the SHM. A set of equations to transform LDM results to SHM results was proposed. The influence of the LDM measurements of clay on the estimated percentage of silt + very fine sand particles (particle diameter ranging from 0.002 mm to 0.1 mm), which is useful for estimating soil erodibility, was also studied.