Data specifications and information structures for soils data. Stephen Hallett and Daniel Simms National Soil Resources Institute Cranfield University

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1 GSP Meeting Rome 22 March 2012 Stephen Hallett and Daniel Simms National Soil Resources Institute Cranfield University Landis.org.uk

2 Rationalisation and harmonisation of soil legacy data (Jack Hannam) Digital soil assessment for class and property information (Thomas Mayr) Soil information systems meeting stakeholder requirements Landis.org.uk

3 Why data specifications are important 1. Permit inter-comparison and collation of datasets 2. Eases Interoperability between scales & data domains 3. Component-based development => plug and play 4. Loose-coupling of applications / Mashups 5. Service-oriented architectures (SOA) 6. Evolution of supporting tools, processors and exchange mechanisms to work with standardised data Standards add a discipline to our data

4 We live in interesting times for evolution of soil data! Mature national soil and thematic information projects Concluding EU-projects e-soter, GS-Soil & isoil Initiatives: Harmonised World Soil Database (HWSD), GlobalSoilMap.net & the Global Soil Partnership Work of ISO/TC 190/SC 1/WG3 [ISO/CD 28258] Work of IUSS WG Soils, ESBN WG and ESDAC Work of Data Specification INSPIRE Soil TWG and other schemas GeoSciML, Borehole ML etc

5 Data Specification INSPIRE Soil Of particular importance for env. data exchange driven by INSPIRE compliance and GEOSS About to produce final specification v3.0 Currently v2.9 under testing and review Core model and two reference extensions Close liaison with other TWGs Promotes WRB and FAO notations Incorporates Soil type, texture, AWC, SOC Concluding 2 years of work!!

6 Soils Data - For Who and For What?? this drives the database Soil mapping, enabling the identification of areas of land for optimal management purposes. Soil inventories, providing soil condition assessment of soil conditions, and soil monitoring, providing assessments showing soil conditions varying in time. Soil thematic mapping providing for policy-relevant maps for soil protection and environmental reporting. INSPIRE Data Specification on soil

7 Global Regional Farm scale How will Soils Information be applied? Land-related issues through EU to globally: Food/Water security Soil functions and services Contamination Stocks and levels monitoring Soil threats Land use capabilities Land suitability Biodiversity mapping Climate impacts CAP reform/alc/efa Geohazards MDG & BMGF goals Agricultural to Environmental to Industrial Context: INSPIRE, TCS, FD Soil, & GEOSS

8 Key information structures Vector Spatial data (geometry, CRS, datum) Raster and Gridded data (RS, model outputs, novel sensors, indicative confidence Attribute data (types, complexes) Semantic relationships (relational) Topological relationships (relative position) Rules (methods, SQL/stored procedures) Metadata (from discovery to entity level) Simple vs complex objects OOPS! UML

9 Accessing Soils Information Standalone Applications, giving way to Web Services component-based SOA REST, WSDL, SOAP, UDDI Allowing Mashups Internet data XML Schemas: GML + grammar Move from PC to new platforms; Integration of other technologies GSM; GPS

10 SMIS Components Databases, GIS, 4GL tools, Statistical tools No one panacea tool! Internet infrastructure Free and Open-Source GIS - FOSSGIS Semantic Transformations Pedo- and Taxon-transfer functions Schematic Transformations XSLT, parsers, convertors

11 Data to Information to Knowledge Trends Move from exactitudes to probabilistic properties As with other domains, eg. climate change Statistical representation, confidence estimates Information access tools for BIG data 2D -> 3D (voxels?), data mining & inference tools Digital Soil Assessment - a powerful, established tool Continuous not discrete data outputs Legacy data incorporation, stored function inputs Pedologists remain essential to process!!

12 LandIS Land Information System, UK 300+ county, regional and national publications & maps 250k Auger bore cards; 8,000 Soil Profile pits Legacy soil record cards; 15k field sheets E&W NSI recording cards for monitoring purposes England and Wales

13 JOSCIS Jordanian Soil and Climatic Information System Arose from Jordanian determination to decrease dependence on imported food and to manage water resources sustainably. Hunting Technical Services Ltd.

14 Libyan Soil Information System LibyaSIS Assessment of land evaluation methodologies to select /adapt suitable methods to suit optimal Libyan agricultural policy Soil Erodibility K, NE. Libya

15 Maltese Soil Information System MALSIS Record of gridded site physical soil properties and linked laboratory chemical property data. 330 pts Plus: Soil chemico-physical properties: particle size distribution, ph, EC (1:2), OM Soil fertility: N, P, K, Ca, Mg, SO 4 2- Soil salinity: EC, Cl, NO 3-, SAR

16 Irish Soil Information System ISIS INSPIRE-driven Digital Soil Assessment, backed by field auger bores, with soil representative profiles recording physical soil properties and linked laboratory chemical property data s of points Auger data Profile data Lab data DSM data Map data Metadata

17 Incorporating Pedotransfer Rules Application: Arable Suitability Soil Spatial Database Soil Profile Database Pedotransfer Rules Database

18 Soil Functions mapping Northern Spruce Suitability Winter cereal production Pesticide Leaching Grass Suitability

19 The way forward Data specifications Digital Soil Assessment Legacy Soil Information Pedologist SMIS Knowledge Challenge is to draw together the many excellent initiatives for soil data codification and exchange GSP is an excellent context in which to do so Adoption of established techniques of Digital Soil Assessment and integration of output data in a new generation of applications tools Application of practical, user-driven methods to transform Soil Data to Information to Knowledge

20 Thank you