Year of publication
2023
Excerpt
Access to data can facilitate better informed decision making. A soil information system (SIS) is used to efficiently use, produce, organize, analyse, and serve soil data and information in a country, region or at any other scale. The report 'Development options for a Soil Information Workflow and System' offers an aid for designing a SIS for soil data practitioners (users and producers). It provides an overview of the options, choices, results, and boundary conditions, and provides links to more detailed resources to execute the design and implementation from field data collection to serving organised and analysed fit-for-purpose soil information products.
The report follows the steps of the generic Soil Information Workflow. Soil information workflows can vary widely depending on the user needs and specific circumstances in which the workflows are set up and need to function. An initial step in this process is to relate the user’s needs and capabilties to specific soil information workflow components. This report considers eight components: 1) needs assessment, 2) data collection, 3) laboratory analysis, 4) soil archiving, 5) data organization, 6) modelling and mapping primary soil data (soil properties/types), 7) applying soil information, and 8) data and information serving. For each step of the soil information workflow the options in methods, tools, standards and implementation are given to enable making optimal choices depending on the needs, capabilites and specificities of the target area or topic.
The report is created as part of the SIStech project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and led by CAB International. The project aims to perform a review of SISs, identifying what intervention approaches have worked well, which have not, which solutions work best and where to take innovation to scale. This information can help direct improved SIS intervention design and strengthen impact.
The report follows the steps of the generic Soil Information Workflow. Soil information workflows can vary widely depending on the user needs and specific circumstances in which the workflows are set up and need to function. An initial step in this process is to relate the user’s needs and capabilties to specific soil information workflow components. This report considers eight components: 1) needs assessment, 2) data collection, 3) laboratory analysis, 4) soil archiving, 5) data organization, 6) modelling and mapping primary soil data (soil properties/types), 7) applying soil information, and 8) data and information serving. For each step of the soil information workflow the options in methods, tools, standards and implementation are given to enable making optimal choices depending on the needs, capabilites and specificities of the target area or topic.
The report is created as part of the SIStech project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and led by CAB International. The project aims to perform a review of SISs, identifying what intervention approaches have worked well, which have not, which solutions work best and where to take innovation to scale. This information can help direct improved SIS intervention design and strengthen impact.