Applying Soil Information

After soil modelling and mapping, is the application of soil information the next step in the development of the SIS. Soil information is applied at different scale levels: from field to continental and even global. In general, soil information is applied to inform decision-making processes related to policy development, planning, and monitoring of the environment at these various scales. Therefore, this step is closely related to users and user requirements

At a global level, processes and trends are studied to allow assessments of the state of the soil at coarse spatial scales. Such information is for instance used for status reports on the world’s soil resources. The scale level of most agricultural and environmental development projects typically ranges from farm to country. In such projects, soil information is often the basis for investment planning, for instance for interventions in agriculture (e.g., soil fertility recommendations), land (e.g., improved soil and land management, spatial planning) or landscape (e.g., restoration of degraded environments).

From the decision-making perspective, soil is just one of many domains to be considered. Integration with other domains is often a pre-requisite to ensure soil data are used properly and to their fullest. Soil information can be used in various applications such as:

• soil fertility assessment and food security studies;
• soil water conservation;
• carbon stock change assessments and carbon sequestration potential;
• land quality assessment, land evaluation and land use planning;
• assessment and mitigation of soil threats;
• infrastructure construction (roads, cables, bridges, buildings);
• archaeology;
• precision farming;
• soil health assessments;
• teaching and studies on soil variation at different spatial scales and soil formation.

This step introduces the tools, challenges, and examples for applying soil information.