Exploring a Dynamic Soil Information System: A Workshop

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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.