Environmental studies often require analyses of numerous chemical, physical and biological properties in large numbers of soil, litter and plant samples. Such analyses may be expensive and time consuming and therefore rapid and cost-effective methods may be required. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a nondestructive analytical method known for rapidity, simplicity and low costs, which could be used along with classical analytical methods in order to improve efficiency of large-scale environmental research. In this review, principals of NIRS are described, examples of NIRS applications are presented and the possibilities and limitations of the method are discussed.