New paper available about the role of computer-generated predictive soil maps in soil survey and land evaluation
In a recent issue of the journal Agriculture for Development, ISRIC – World Soil Information guest researcher David G. Rossiter published the article “Soil mapping today: computer-generated predictive soil maps – their role in soil survey and land evaluation.”
The article explains the development of digital soil mapping, and the advantages and challenges of incorporating digital soil maps into land resource assessments and land surface models.
“I was pleased to be invited to explain ISRIC’s work in digital soil mapping to the official journal of the Tropical Agriculture Association. This association goes back to the 1960’s in the waning stages of British colonialism, which, despite the obvious social and political disputes, was instrumental in advances in our understanding of tropical soils, and made important advances in tropical agriculture. Fortunately, the Association continued post-colonialism and is a home for professionals working in agricultural development, especially in the tropics. ISRICS’s mission is to produce quality-assessed and freely-available soil data in support of sustainable land use, so I jumped at the opportunity to explain ISRIC’s activities, as well the concepts of digital soil mapping, to this audience ” said David, who is also Adjunct Professor in Soil & Crop Sciences at Cornell University in the United States.
Full citation: Rossiter, David G. 2021. Soil mapping today: computer-generated predictive soil maps – their role in soil survey and land evaluation. Agriculture for Development. (44):26-31.
This article was published in the Winter 2021 special issue of Agriculture for Development (Ag4Dev) Journal which commemorated the life and work of Hugh Brammer. The article “Soil mapping today: computer-generated predictive soil maps – their role in soil survey and land evaluation” is generously shared by the journal to be redistributed by ISRIC – World Soil Information as an open-access PDF. Access the article here.