Exploring a Dynamic Soil Information System: A Workshop

美国国家科学院、工程院和医学院将举办一个为期两天的研讨会，将科学界的成员聚集在一起，研究如何动态、准确地监测土壤资源，以实现相互支持的目标，即更好地理解土壤变化对观测到的因果影响，并为土地管理者、科学家、农民和其他人提供可获取、有用和可操作的信息。土壤是世界范围内支持人类活动和自然过程的重要结构、生物和动态基质。目前用于监测和记录土壤状况的系统无法准确描述土壤在退化、侵蚀、肥力、保水能力和其他特性方面如何随时间变化。我们目前的监测系统也没有捕捉到土壤与自然（天气、气候和火灾）和人为力量（如土地管理）的相互作用。为了更好地了解这些相互作用和结果，需要一个强大的、纵向的、多地点的数据集，记录土壤的化学、物理和生物属性，并与环境和气候条件以及土地利用活动数据相结合。构思这样一个广泛而多样的数据集需要仔细考虑收集统一数据的方法，以及针对不同土壤属性和与土壤相互作用的力的适当指标。同样有必要的是实际考虑这种数据库的潜在用户的具体要求，这些用户可能包括来自许多学科的科学家，从微生物学家到生态系统建模者，以及实际用户，如农民。国家科学院将任命一个指导委员会，以确定适当的专家和利益相关者参加研讨会。为了探讨动态信息系统的要求，将围绕以下几个主题组织讲习班讨论，包括：定义土壤化学、物理、特别是生物特性的适当的可测量指标；确定补充数据集的可用性[包括NSF国家生态观测站网络（NEON）提供的数据集]，这些数据集反映了覆盖土壤数据的环境条件和土地管理活动；便利及时和具有成本效益地收集土壤和环境数据的现有技术和方法；数据库设计、数据存储和数据管理方面的概念和实际考虑；提供不同分辨率信息的工具，以满足不同用户的需求，包括土地管理者、农民、学术界、州和联邦科学家以及政策制定者。该研讨会反映了2016年《联邦土壤科学战略计划框架》中确定的若干科学和技术优先事项，并解决了2015年联合国粮食及农业组织《世界土壤状况》报告中指出的关于北美（特别是美国）土壤特征随时间变化的信息缺口。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will hold a 2-day workshop to bring members of the scientific community together to examine how soil resources might be dynamically and accurately monitored toward the mutually supporting goals of achieving a better understanding of causal influences on observed changes in soil and of providing accessible, useful, and actionable information to land managers, scientists, farmers, and others. Soil is an important structural, living, and dynamic substrate supporting human activities and natural processes worldwide. Current systems in place for monitoring and documenting soil conditions do not provide an accurate picture of how soil is changing over time with respect to degradation, erosion, fertility, capacity for retaining water, and other properties. Nor do our current monitoring systems capture the interactions of soil with natural (weather, climate, and fire) and anthropogenic forces, such as land management. To achieve a better understanding of those interactions and outcomes, a robust, longitudinal, multi-location dataset is needed that records chemical, physical, and biological soil attributes, and that is coupled to data on environmental and climatic conditions as well as land use activities. Conceiving of such a broad and diverse dataset requires thoughtful consideration of methods for collecting uniform data and appropriate indicators for different soil attributes and the forces that interact with soils. Also necessary is a practical consideration of the specific requirements of potential users of such a database who are likely to include scientists from many disciplines, from microbiologists to ecosystem modelers, as well as practical users, like farmers. A steering committee will be appointed by the National Academies to identify appropriate experts and stakeholders to participate in the workshop. To explore the requirements of a dynamic information system, workshop discussions will be organized around several topics, including: defining appropriate, measurable indicators of chemical, physical, and especially biological soil properties; identifying the availability of complementary datasets [including those provided by the NSF National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)] that reflect environmental conditions and land management activities to overlay soil data; available technologies and methods to facilitate the timely and cost-effective collection of soil and environmental data; conceptual and practical considerations for database design, data storage, and data stewardship; and, tools to deliver information at different scales of resolution to meet the needs of a diversity of users, including land managers, farmers, academic, state and federal scientists, and policymakers. The workshop reflects several of the science and technology priorities identified in the 2016 Framework for a Federal Strategic Plan for Soil Science and addresses information gaps noted by the 2015 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Status of the World Soils report with respect to information about changes in soil characteristics over time in North America (and particularly in the United States).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.